Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2: A Novelization
by Gamerfan411
Summary: Alex is originally a human being. The story of his adventure as an electric mouse. A retelling of the game's events with some of my own twists. The last chapters are pretty dark in nature and there's plenty of violence.
1. Prologue

_**Thank you for reading my story here. Please R&R. If you don't like it, please tell me why and how I might be able to improve it.**_

_**If you do like it, then I'm grateful that I've done a good job.**_

_**Note: I don't own Pokemon or anything like that. I do have several of their games but that aside...**_

_**Also, the cover art is property of one ShinyEevee from DeviantArt so all credit goes to him for the work there. I cropped the image the best I could. A shame doesn't allow for wider pictures... Ah well.  
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PDM2: A Novelization

Prologue: "Human and Partner"

Two figures charged their way down the pathway laid before them. It was a pair that wasn't seen frequently in a world like this.

A human and a pokemon running side-by-side…  
>The human was a boy, barely in his teens but with an appearance that told of his hardships in this world. He wore a shirt that had once been yellow in color but tumbles and damage from time and action had smeared and faded the bright colors, the shirt was now more a drab brown. He wore a pair of jeans that were more like shorts now, being that he had been forced to tear away the lower legs of the pants. What was left was also the color of dust and dirt rather than the dark blue they had once been.<br>The boy himself was pale and covered in dirt but strong with a head covered in golden-blonde hair. A lock of his hair seemed to hang down in front of his face and though he blew on it to get it out of the way, it persistently hung there. Another clump on his head stuck up in a cowlick that he never had the time (or luxury) to flatten down. His soft brown eyes had a certain shine to them… something that seemed to declare his determination.

The pokemon meanwhile, was a bright green almost entirely though with a red underbelly and yellow, slitted eyes: a Grovyle. His appearance was largely reptilian, he stood on two legs, long leaves hung from his wrists, flapping in the wind as he ran. What might have been a very long slender leaf appeared to be growing back on his head, like an extremely long strand of hair; it also whipped about in the wind. If there was any similarities between the human and the pokemon, it was that light within their eyes that they appeared to share. Both were clearly on a mission.

"Almost there… almost there…" the boy was chanting to himself, apparently trying to keep himself going forward. His partner, unable to speak (not in a language his friend would understand anyways), just motioned for him to keep going. The human proceeded to push himself. He couldn't stop, not now.

Grovyle had been with this human for several weeks now. Not that he could tell given that they hadn't seen the sun rise nor set in well over 200 hours… then again, time was stopped so no hours had passed at all technically. Grovyle trusted few beings more than the one he was running alongside. Over that period, he had lost track of the times the human had attempted to shield him from one attack or another. He seriously wondered about the human's instinct for self-preservation at times but the boy continually took and bore the hits with a smile and Grovyle did all he could to return the favors.

"That's far enough!" a cold voice echoed as they charged into a clearing. Both halted and there before them was a figure as gray as the landscape around them but with one singular eye that glowed red: Dusknoir.

"You're not stopping us now Dusknoir! We're getting through one way or another." Grovyle declared and, tossing a glass ball to the boy, charged at Dusknoir. The grass-type lashed out with Leaf Blade and the ghost caught the attack in one hand and the two wrestled with each other right there. The human meanwhile, raced on by, having faith that Grovyle would be following him shortly. Though Dusknoir momentarily attempted to strike at the boy and stop him from rushing onwards, his opponent halted his attempts and their stalemate continued. After several moments, Dusknoir chuckled darkly.

"You sadly underestimate me, Grovyle. Your friend will be ambushed shortly up ahead by my servants." The ghost said and then attempted to overpower his smaller opponent.

"You're the one underestimating both of us." Grovyle said smugly as he jumped backward out of the fight and pulled out another glass ball from a bag at his side. He hurled the orb at Dusknoir's feet where it exploded into cloud of smoke. Dusknoir suddenly found himself facing the wrong way and realized in seconds that Grovyle had used a Switcher Orb on him. He turned in time to see his quarry escaping after his partner.

Up ahead, the human had indeed run into trouble, surrounded by dark, jewel-eyed pokemon on all sides: Sableye.

_Great, just great… wanted to save this Wonder Orb for a better time but we don't have time to waste right now. _He thought, huffing out a breath that attempted to blow his facial lock of hair out his sight.

He brandished the orb similar to his companion's and hurled it at the ground. A flash and the snickering pokemon surrounding him found themselves petrified and unable to move. It wasn't long before Grovyle rejoined him. They exchanged glances and the human grinned, congratulating their escapes; Grovyle returned the grin with a smile of his own but then poured on the speed.

"Right!" the boy grunted and ran after him. Privately, the human felt he was being less than useful, being able to merely stun their pursuers and little more. He did wish he could fight them more directly than this… more than just being a shield… but he had nothing to defend himself with but his own hands. He shoved these thoughts aside though.

_No time to be moping over my limited use. Got to move now!_

They soon arrived at the portal they had been working towards. He had only heard of the Passage of Time before in texts that he had managed to scavenge up from various ruins. It would allow them to get centuries into the past so they could stop this disaster from happening. Now, with the help of the pink fairy-like pokemon waiting for them, he would be going through it. Yes, he had been taken aback by the shocking coloration of the legendary pokemon but he'd just learned to ignore this as Celebi didn't seem to like any comment that questioned its appearance. The one time he had, the little pokemon had gotten snippy with him and Grovyle had given him a look that clearly said "Nice going".

Grovyle approached the other pokemon. Celebi was smaller than Grovyle in size and looked like she might've been made of grass tyed together. Two "strands" stuck up on her head like antenna and her wings were small and also looked a little like blades of grass on her back. Grovyle had heard that she was normally green but the little fairy had explained her... ostentatious appearance as her being "shiny". Not that he understood what that meant... all he knew was that it amazed him she hadn't been caught yet, standing out so brightly. Then again, given that she could travel through time, her claims that she would never be caught might've had some weight to them.

"Everything ready then Celebi?" Grovyle said, only somewhat winded from their long run.

"Quite, my dear Grovyle." Celebi said with a slight giggle. He could never figure her out sometimes but so long as she was on their side, he was grateful for her help in everything. Celebi couldn't take them as far back as they needed to by herself but the Passage could, and she was the only one they knew who could open it.

The human was over by a statue hurriedly repacking the bag Grovyle had been carrying. He finished in seconds and stood up with a cry of "Done!" He was, needless to say, tired from the forced sprint he had just gone through but he'd been doing plenty of it lately, and tired or not, he wasn't about to complain as he'd found it didn't help anything.

Handing the bag back to his partner, they gave their pink friend a final nod "good-bye" and ran into the portal which closed behind them seconds later… but not before something else followed them in.

The boy felt it when something went wrong…

One moment, they were shooting down a tunnel. The next moment, things went dark and in an attempt to keep from being separated, the boy found Grovyle's hand and gripped it tight.

"Just in hang in there…" Grovyle said under his breath, gently squeezing his hand to make sure they were securely together.

Then the human looked back and a moment of terror struck at his heart right then. In a flash of light in the chaos, he thought he saw some figure in the distance behind them… that wasn't what had his attention though. What he was looking at was clearly a dark ball of malicious energy headed straight for his partner's back. The shielding attempts of the last few weeks came back to mind at this point and he did as previously so many other times: releasing Grovyle's hand, he instinctively moved and placed himself in front of the deadly projectile.

It hit him with a force he had never encountered before and he knew almost immediately that he would be dead in minutes if his injury wasn't treated.

"W-Whoa!" he gasped, the attack having knocked the wind out of him and more.

Grovyle felt his partner's body hit his and realized the boy had shielded him from yet another hazard, whether it was someone's last-ditch attack or an incoming hazard of the tunnel, he didn't know. Another flash of light and he saw just how severely his partner had been wounded this time.

_Damnit! I let my guard down! _Grovyle thought, cursing his carelessness.

Then they started to fly off into different directions. Desperate not to lose him here of all places, Grovyle reached out and quickly grabbed his partner's hand again.

"Just a little longer! Hold on!" He called out over the noise. Another flash as the dark tunnel seemed to attack them now.

"C-Can't hold on…" the boy groaned, pain overwhelming his mind, his hand slipping. Then they lost hold and the boy went spinning away into the dark.

"Waaaaaaaah!" The scream was the last either heard before darkness set in.


	2. I'm a What?

_**Alright, this the first actual chapter of this fict of mine. Please R&R. I'd like to improve it anyway I can.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**Note: Again, I do not own Pokemon or anything of the sort. I own several of the games but that's something else entirely.**_

PDM2: A Novelization

Chapter 1: I'm a What?

The sound of water reached his ears…

After several moments, he attempted to get up but he found he didn't have the strength…

"Where… where am I?"

His eyes were barely open but even that took him an unbelievable level of effort to do; all he could see was a blue sky. Darkness was soon eating at the edges of his vision though.

"No… drifting off…" he groaned… then passed out.

o0o

A young Eevee had been pacing the area in front of the tent-like structure for a long time now and the sun was setting. Her face was contorted with anxiety over the action she was now trying to push herself to do. Finally she turned to face the building before her: Wigglytuff's Guild, and her expression hardened into one of determination, her long rabbit-like ears stiffening straight up in the air.

"Alright. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do it…" she chanted to herself.

She stepped onto a grate before the guild entrance and immediately a voice sounded below.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint belongs to Eevee! The footprint belongs to Eevee!"

The Eevee immediately jumped back off the grate in fright.

"Yikes! That startled me!" she cried, quivering for several seconds. She soon calmed down and hung her head, looking depressed.

"Aw… I told myself I'd do it today…" She pulled out a rock she had in a small pouch and looked at the pattern on it "I thought my personal treasure would motivate me but…" she sighed and put it away, shaking her head.

"I just can't do it… stupid… coward…"

Thus depreciating herself, the little pokemon walked away back, down the steps she had come up.

o0o

She soon wandered down to the beach. Krabby were perched on the rocks, contenting themselves with gently blowing bubbles out into the air, where they caught the light and spread an array of colors across the sand. The Eevee glanced out at the ocean as she stepped onto the sand and viewed the scene of bubbles drifting across the setting sun.

"Beautiful as always…" she murmured, a soft smile appearing on her face.

"I'm always coming here when my spirits are down… it's always so beautiful." She sighed and breathed in, then huffed it out like she was dropping all her stress off right there. Then she noticed an odd lump further down the beach.

"Huh? What's that?" she said and started towards it. She soon realized she was looking at another pokemon apparently knocked out. With a concerned cry, she ran over to the body.

"Hey! Are you alright?" she said, placing a paw on the pokemon's side and jiggling him.

The Pikachu slowly sat up, blinking wearily.

"Where… where am I?" he mumbled for the second time that day.

"Hey there, you okay? I found you out cold here. You had me worried." The Eevee said her concern evident in her tones.

_I was out cold? How'd that happen?_ He thought, his head feeling fuzzy. Then he looked at the one speaking to him. Clearly a pokemon, the Eevee resembled a brown fox in some ways, being down on all-fours, having a short furry tail and a ruff of tan-colored fur about her neck. Unlike a fox though, her face was flatter and her ears stood, long and slender like a rabbit's.

"Wait… how did you speak to me?" he said, pointing at her.

"Well I'd think that's obvious, silly? You hit your head or something?" the Eevee laughed.

"But… but I'm human… how do I understand you?" he said shaking his head, wondering if he _had_ hit it hard on something.

"What? Human? But you look like a perfectly normal Pikachu to me!" the Eevee said, shocked.

It was at this point that the Pikachu looked at his arm and realized it wasn't human at all. He then looked down his body, which was definitely a vibrant yellow from head to toe. One slightly-tapering ear tipped with black flopped down into his sight-line; his other ear stood cock-eyed like his hair had done when he was human. He shook the hanging ear out the way and noticed the jagged lightning bolt-shaped tail he was sporting that was definitely a Pikachu's. He was startled by this entire revelation. Futher looking showed he had a couple of mustard-colored stripes across his back and overall, he looked like a mouse. Though he couldn't see them, his eyes retained their brown coloration.

_I _have_ been turned into a Pikachu!_ He gazed at his hands, which were now paws… _But how'd this happen? And why can't I remember anything?_

The Eevee cut into his thoughts.

"Uh… you're kinda weird. Is this some sort of trick?"

He looked up abruptly.

"What? No! I'm not lying!" he said, still trying to straighten out his thoughts. The pokemon still looked skeptical but continued.

"Alright then, can you at least tell me your name?" she said.

_My name? …Wait, I remember that…it's…_

"Alex. My name's Alex." He answered confidently.

The Eevee smiled and nodded.

"Alright. I think I can trust you. My name's Eve by the way." She said "Sorry I didn't trust you at first… it's just that things have been a bit hectic lately… Not exactly safe anymore."

As if to emphasize this point, it was at this point that the two sneaking up on Eve decided to give her a rather violent shove. Her pouch went flying and Eve staggered into Alex, who hopped back.

"Whoops! Excuse me." The Koffing said, in a far too innocent tone. He was little more than a floating, pock-marked purple ball, holes spewing small amounts of smelly gas in all directions. Eve rounded on him and yelled at him.

"What was that for?" The eyeless Zubat flying next to him responded.

"Messin' with ya. Can't figure that much out? Heh heh!"

The bluntness of this statement struck the Eevee off-guard.

"That's yours, right?" the Koffing said indicating the pouch lying dropped on the sand between them.

"We'll be taking that." The Zubat said, picking it up with his foot-less legs and flipping it into their own bag.

Eve was dumbstruck and frozen by all this.

"What's the matter? Too scared to take it back?" the Zubat chuckled.

"Wow… didn't think you'd be such a chicken." Koffing supplied.

The two flew right by them into the cave behind them.

"Later, Chicken." Zubat said as they disappeared into the cave. Alex was stunned but not out of fear...

"Aw man… that was my personal treasure…" Eve murmured, turning to face Alex

"If I can't get that back…" tears were welling up in her eyes. Alex seemed to burst and threw his arms into the air.

"What are you waiting for then? Let's go after them!" he yelled. Eve's tears cleared up in a hurry.

"Really? You'll help? Alright then!" They charged into the cave to reclaim the stolen item.

o0o

Alex's natural ability allowed the pair to eliminate most of the cave residents that got in the way. Alex was starting to see what Eve had been talking about things not being safe anymore. Then again, the water-types they were frequently encountering were little match for Alex's electric abilities. Eve watched as Alex fried a Shellos that had attempted to get close enough to attack.

"Wow, you're a natural at fighting aren't you." She said, as Alex proceeded forward. In his mind, Alex honestly wasn't sure why, but he seemed to instinctively know how to fight. He didn't reply but just lead the Eevee onwards.

It wasn't long before they found the thieves, who had apparently ended up at a dead-end. Eve stepped up and got their attention.

"Whoa-ho! Look who it is: our old friend the Chicken!" Koffing laughed upon turning around.

Eve winced at the insult but straighten up again and yelled at them:

"Give me back my Relic Fragment! It means everything to me!"

A grin spread across Zubat's face.

"It's that valuable, eh?"

"If it's worth _that_ much, maybe we ought to just sell it. Might get a good price." Koffing chuckled.

"All the more reason not to give it back." Zubat quipped.

"But… but…" Eve stammered.

"You want it back so bad? Come and get it." Koffing said grinning darkly.

"You asked for it…" Alex said, sparks flashing at his cheeks.

Alex bounded forward and unleashed a stream of electricity directly at Zubat who let out a scream before dropping out of the air, fried to a crisp. Eve meanwhile charged directly at Koffing and, eyes squeezed shut, tackled him.

Koffing shook this off and exhaled a cloud of toxic gas at Alex, who simply plugged his nose and unleashed another barriage of electricity at the ball of gas. Koffing wasn't fast enough to avoid this and joined his companion on the ground.

"*cough* Ow… we got fried…" he groaned, the two then got back up slowly.

"How'd lose to couple of wimps like them anyways?" Zubat said, angry about losing.

"Feh! Here! Have it back!" Koffing spat, throwing the stolen pouch out to Alex and Eve.

"Don't forget though: this loss was just a fluke!" Zubat warned and then the two thieves beat a hasty retreat.

"Wow… we got it back…" Eve said, happiness in her every word as she reclaimed her treasure. She then turned back to Alex.

"I couldn't have done this without you. Thank you!"

o0o

Outside the cave, Eve thanked Alex again, who was turning a gentle shade of pink in the face.

"Uh… it was nothing…" he said sheepishly.

The Eevee was considering leaving but an idea struck her then.

"Say Alex… do you have any idea what to do now?" she asked. Alex looked away as he considered this question… When he didn't answer, Eve continued on:

"If not, could I ask you something: would you be willing to form an exploration team with me?" Alex looked at her again, curious about what she was talking about "I've been wanting to join Wigglytuff Guild for some time now. Finding treasure, making discoveries, exploring new lands… I'd heard about all that and it was so inspiring. And then one day, I happened to find this"

At this point, Eve placed the pouch between them and opened it up, to show a small stone with an intricate pattern on top of it.

"It doesn't look at that interesting at a glance, does it? I just call it my Relic Fragment. When I saw that pattern, I figured it had to go to _some_thing so I decided I wanted to find out what."

_True… I've never seen a pattern like this… then again, even if I had, I wouldn't remember…_ Alex thought as Eve continued.

"So I went to join Wigglytuff's Guild…" she hung her head "But I… I chickened out…"

She lifted her head up and gazed directly at Alex who locked eyes with her.

"So when we went and got this back from those two, I felt so brave with you in there… I think I could work effectively in a team with you. You don't have anywhere you can really go. So would you join me in forming a team, please?"

Then the weight of what she was asking hit Alex and his thoughts raced.

_Whoa! She's trying to recruit me outta the blue. Wha- What do I? Just refuse…? No. It's true I don't have anywhere to go… I don't even know anything about myself…Maybe if I spend some time with her, I'll find out more about myself… Right, I'll join._

Alex nodded and smiled "Yeah, I'll join."

Eve hopped "Really?" She then proceeded to prance about in place, cheering. After she calmed down, she turned back to Alex.

"Alright then, first we need to go to Wigglytuff's Guild and get signed up. Let's make this work!" she cheered and they high-fived.


	3. Team Long Ears

_**Here's the next chapter. Here's hoping you like it. As usual, Read & Review please. I want to make this the best I can.**_

_**Final Disclaimer, This applies to all chapters before and after this one as well: I do NOT own Pokemon nor am I directly associated with the companies that made the games or anime or anything of that sort.**_

PDM2: A Novelization

Chapter 2: Team Long Ears

Eve was once again, standing before the large tent that was apparently Wigglytuff's guild with Alex alongside her.

"Well, this is it. Wigglytuff's Guild…" she said, nervousness clear in her voice "But there's just something weird about it, isn't there? It just is!"

"Weird" certainly seemed to describe the entrance before them. There were a couple of long… things that Alex supposed were supposed to resemble ears standing up over the entrance and it was a vibrant pink. In fact, Alex was pretty sure it was supposed to resemble a pokemon… then again he couldn't be sure. Eve shook herself and put on a determined face like last time.

"No… no time to be getting cold feet now." She was apparently talking to herself though "I've got Alex with me this time… Let's do this!" she then stepped onto the grate before the entrance. Once again, a voice sounded from below:

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint belongs to Eevee! The footprint belongs to Eevee!"

Again, Eve's first impulse was to hop back off, startled as she was by this event. But she stood her ground, muttering encouragement to herself. A moment passed, then someone below called up to them.

"Alright! You PASS. There's someone ELSE up there with you! Get THEM to stand on the GRATE!"

Relieved, the timid Eevee stepped off and stood aside. When he didn't act, she turned to Alex who was still staring at the entrance.

"I think they meant you Alex." She said.

Alex tore his eyes off the Guild entrance and looked down at the grate.

_Well… it's at least made so no one will fall through… but still it looks as if it will tickle or- _His musing were interrupted when the voice below called up again:

"HEY! STRANGER! Get on the GRATE!"

Shrugging, Alex stepped onto the grate and stood there.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is… the footprint isss…"

Whoever was below sounded uncertain and their voice trailed off.

"What's WRONG? RESPOND Diglett!"

"The footprint…" they still sounded uncertain but finally yelled "Maybe Pikachu's! Maybe Pikachu's!"

"WHAT? Whadda you mean MAYBE?"

A short argument could be heard below. Eve raised an eyebrow.

"Are they… fighting?" she said, a little incredulous. Finally the argument halted and they were called once again.

"ALRIGHT! It's TRUE you don't see many Pikachu around these parts… BUT I think you're okay so… OPEN!"

The metal grating that served as the door to the Guild creaked and rose, displaying the entrance welcoming them in.

"Wow! We're actually going inside." Eve said, quivering excitedly "I'm nervous but, let's go." The two stepped inside and immediately found a hole in the ground with a ladder going down. Upon climbing down, they were awe-struck by the busy room below. Pokemon were all over the place, some giving money that was evidently payment to others and yet others were going about doing other business.

"Are these pokemon all exploration teams?" Eve murmured as she looked around, her excitement continuing to climb as she watched. Alex couldn't help but also gaze about. The room was carved out the rock and oval in shape. Where they had come from, there was another hole going further down on the right, and a bulletin board on the wall on the opposite side. Further over on the right near the hole, was yet another bulletin board. Pokemon were grouped mainly around these boards, pointing to pages posted on them and discussing various things with their companions.

Alex and Eve's observations were interrupted when someone emerged from the hole going further down and called out to them.

"Excuse me! You two are to two that just came in, correct?"

The pokemon addressing them was a bird and looked a little like a parrot, with red wings, a body with a mix of blue and white and an entirely black head that had an odd tuft of feathers that were shaped such that the bird's head looked like a musical note with a beak and eyes. Eve nodded, confirming they had just come in. The parrot returned the nod.

"I'm Chatot, Wigglytuff's right-hand pokemon and the pokemon in-the-know around these parts." He introduced himself, his tone serious "Now shoo! We have no time for silly surveys or other such nonsense!" he said sharply. Eve jumped and immediately spoke up.

"Oh wait! We're not here for any of that. We came because we wanted to join the Guild as apprentices!" she said quickly.

This evidently surprised Chatot as he jumped and exclaimed "Apprentices?"

He then turned his back to them and started mumbling to himself in such a quiet tone that Alex only caught what he was saying because he unconsciously directed his ears towards him.

"It's rare to see a kid like this wanting to be a apprentice at the guide… especially given how hard the training is. Surely the number of apprentices that try to run away proves how true that is."

Alex cut-in before he thought about what he was saying.

"Wait, is the training really _that_ hard?"

Chatot jumped again and turned to face them.

"Hard? Why not at all!" he denied quickly and loudly, flapping his wings in a show of some panic. This was quickly overridden with a smile and a very friendly air.

"Well, I wish you had mentioned up-front that you wished to become apprentices." He said with a friendly chuckle. Alex and Eve exchanged glances…

"What a change in attitude…" she mouthed.

Chatot didn't notice and started hopping away before he noticed they weren't moving. He then turned and called to them again.

"What's the matter? Come along!"

They followed Chatot down the hole he had come up, down a ladder and into another large and very spacious room that was largely empty with two hallways leading out, there was also what appeared to be some sort of shop. Eve noticed a window installed in a wall that featured a view of the sky outside. She promptly ran over to it and gazed out in awe.

"Wow! We're underground but you can see outside from here!"

"Hush!" Chatot snapped "The guild's built into the side of a cliff. It's only natural you'd be able to see outside." He said simply.

Eve blinked then just shrugged.

Chatot gathered them before a large wooden door between the ladder up and the window. The door was emblazoned with a circular, swirl-like emblem that Alex guessed was the Guild sign. Chatot turned to the two of them

"This is the Guildmaster's chamber." He explained, his tone strict "On no account- I repeat, on NO account, should you ever be discourteous to our Guildmaster." He warned and then turned to the door and called "Guildmaster! It's Chatot, I'm coming in!" before pushing open the door and leading them inside.

o0o

Inside was a room that was decorated with a few banners, and had various items placed along the walls of the room. As Alex and Eve stopped between two braziers, Chatot turned towards the center of the room and spoke

"Guildmaster, I present to you two pokemon who wish to join our guild as apprentices."

Alex glanced around… he didn't immediately see anyone who looked like a Guildmaster. There was something that might've been a statue standing in about the center of the room, the back facing them.

"Guildmaster?" Chatot repeated, apparently unsure if his leader had heard him.

Then the "statue" whirled and said enthusiastically "Hiya!"

Both Alex and his partner jumped. Guildmaster Wigglytuff was evidently what Alex had mistaken for statue. The leader was oval… almost egg-shaped and largely pink, though his belly was white. His eyes were a vivid shade of green that shined in a way that implied something about their owner that Alex couldn't figure out. He had ears that were also long and rabbit-like though unlike Alex's, they ended with white-tips. His hands and feet were little more than stubs. On the Guildmaster's head was what looked like a little curl of hair that Alex realized looked like the emblem on the room's door. The Guildmaster acted like they hadn't been startled and moved right into business in a happy, energetic tone.

"So you wish to register at the guild as apprentices? Alright! Let's do it! First, tell me your team name."

Eve got over her surprise and immediately addressed the issue at hand.

"Oh, we didn't think of a team name." She turned to her partner "What sounds like a good team name to you, Alex?"

Alex lowered his head, thinking. After a moment, his ear once again flopped down into his face. He blew on it out of instinct and when that didn't get it out of the way he jerked his head, flipping it out of the way. He then considered his ears and glanced at Eve… noting her ears as well.

_Long Ears…_

He couldn't suppress a bit of a giggle as he found the name quite silly but nonetheless attractive. He voiced the idea to his partner. She blinked and then burst out laughing light-heartedly.

"Long Ears? Team Long Ears?" She laughed a bit more "Funny. It sounds silly but I actually like it. It certainly suits us." She said, finally suppressing her laughter down to giggling.

The Guildmaster nodded.

"Team Long Ears? Got it. Registering… registering… DONE!" he jumped into the air as he finished.

"Team Long Ears is now officially registered at the Guild!" He then pulled out a small yellow chest and set it down before them "Here's your Exploration Team Starter Kit! Open it up!"

Alex and Eve stepped forward and popped open the lid of the chest. Inside was a sheet of paper that was clearly a map from the details etched on it. Next to that was a bag with an arm-strap and cloth-flap as a lid. On top of the bag were a pair of badges that were round and emblazoned with a jewel in the center, with a pair of wings on the sides of it; both were on sashes for them to wear. Eve's eyes were glittering.

"Wow… all of this? For us?" the Guildmaster cheerfully nodded and explained

"First is your wonder map (indicating the paper) which is a wonder of convenience, it updates itself for you and everything! Then there's your Explorer's Badge, which shows you're an official exploration team. And finally there's your treasure bag, which you use to contain the items you collect during your explorations, you can even get bigger ones if you work hard! Look what's inside now."

Alex gently lifted the bag from the chest and lifted the flap off. Inside was a ribbon that was the same brown as his eyes and a band that Chatot mentioned was a Power Band. The ribbon as the Guildmaster explained was apparently charged with aura and it matched Alex's aura, thus it would enhance his abilities.

"T-Thank you!" Eve said, amazed at the new items for them. "We'll do our best!"

The Guildmaster smiled warmly.

"That's right! But you're only apprentices right now so do your best… to train!"

Eve nodded in response and turned to Alex.

"We'll always do our best, right Alex?"

"Right!" they clasped paws and there… Team Long Ears was born.


	4. The First Job

_**Next chapter's up now. I've been following the reviews I've gotten thus far and I thank you all for the support. In response to one of my latest reviews, I'm going to tell you now: I'm going to mainly be sticking to the game's storyline. I'll be throwing in some deviations from the story every now and then but in the end, it's going to be the same as the game. Still though, I will try to make this interesting and try to throw in a metaphorical "curveball" when I see the chance.**_

_**Enjoy. And as always, please R&R. I'm always aiming to improve.**_

PMD2: A Novelization

Chapter 3: The First Job

"**HEY!"**

This yell jolted Alex right out of the deep slumber he had been in.

"**HEY! Rise and SHINE!**" They repeated, a thick wave of sound crashing over both Alex and Eve's ears. Alex's head started throbbing as a headache set in.

_Argh! Who the heck is yelling like that? My head's pounding!_

Then he realized it wasn't his head that was pounding but that the noise was pounding _on_ it more effectively than a pair of fists.

"**HOW long are you gonna SLEEP? WAKE UP!"**

Alex sat up in a hurry, both paws clamped over his ears as he turned to look at the source of the wake-up call. Eve was trying to stay down on her own straw-bed, both paws also trying to shelter her ears from the abuse.

In the doorway of their new bedroom, stood a pokemon that was primarily blue in color and had arms and feet as well as his own round ears, but what stood out most was that huge mouth effortlessly bellowing ear-shattering words.

"**I'm Loudred! A fellow APPRENTICE!" **the mouth roared.

_Agh, I've had it with that already!_

Alex sparked and electricity jumped at Loudred who jumped aside, looking stunned that someone would try something like that. He stomped on the spot and directed himself at Alex.

"**Hey! WATCH the electricity, SPARKY!" **he yelled, flooring Alex with another blast of sound.

**"You BETTER be GRATEFUL I'm NICE enough to WAKE you up for morning CHEERS! And it's not the GUILDMASTER doing IT!"**

Alex's vision was going double as his headache intensified.

"**ANYWAY!"** Loudred bellowed, spreading his voice evenly over the room again **"I'll forgive THIS time, but I'm NOT getting in trouble just 'cause you ROOKIES got up LATE! SO GET IT GEAR!"**

With that, Loudred stomped out of the room, muttering about upstart rookies; not that either of the two new apprentices could hear him over the echo that seemed to going in their ears.

"Ugh… My ears won't stop ringing…" Eve moaned. After a moment, they both managed to sit up.

"What was he saying again? Something about morning cheers?" Alex groaned.

Eve shook her head trying to dispel her own headache and stood up "Yeah, I think we'd best get out there."

After the assault on his ears like that, Alex didn't feel much like going anywhere except maybe to a doctor to make sure his eardrums hadn't exploded. Nonetheless, he got to his feet and followed Eve out.

o0o

"Morning cheers" as Loudred had called it went by fairly quick and before he realized it, Alex was standing with Eve, completely without any idea of what he was supposed to do now. Then again, he wasn't sure if his brain would be functioning right for the next several minutes until he could get Loudred's noise out of his mind.

Chatot apparently noticed their hesitance on what to do as he called out to them.

"You two! Don't know what to do? Right then, follow me." He said in a business-like tone.

After a brief exchange of glances, they shrugged and followed Chatot up the ladder.

They were lead over to one of the boards, which was adjacent to the ladder going out the guild.

"Today, I'll get you two started with a job from this board."

Alex rubbed one ear, still trying to restore his hearing back to normal. In his fiddling, his ear flopped over his face.

"Alright… a job?" Alex said, wondering what manner of job he meant. Chatot nodded.

"Correct, because time has been going out-of-whack lately, there's been an innumerable number of problems and pokemon of all sorts have needed to call for help in various matters."

_Time? As in hours and minutes? Or is my hearing still ruined from ol' Big Mouth back there?_

"Furthermore" the parrot continued "and this may or may not be because of time, we've seen a lot of mystery dungeons appearing lately as well."

Alex shook his head, removing his ear from his sight; his headache was finally subsiding a bit. "Mystery dungeons, eh?"

Eve turned to him.

"Yep, like that cave we went into yesterday to get my Relic Fragment back. That was a mystery dungeon."

Alex blinked and focused his attention, now that he was sure his head was on straight now.

"Whenever you go into a mystery dungeon, the layout's always different but there's also always new things to be found in there too. If you get knocked out in there though, you get booted out and half your money and items go missing. Wondrous places to explore though, aren't they?" Eve explained.

Chatot smiled, sincerely impressed.

"Well, you certainly know a lot, don't you?" he commented, then turned to the board in front of them and began scanning it visually "Now then, let's see what job you ought to do to get started… ah, maybe this one…"

Chatot plucked a note off of the board with one wing and handed it to Eve, who read it over, curious about the job in question. Alex leaned over and viewed the page himself with Eve:

_Dear Explorers,_

_I am in need of help with finding my pearl. It my most prized possession and without it, I cannot keep myself under control. Fortunately, I have gotten word that it is in the deepest reaches of Drenched Bluff. However, I could never go to somewhere so dangerous myself so I must ask, could you go there and retrieve it for me please? I would be ever so grateful._

_Sincerely,_

_Spoink_

Eve looked up, frowning.

"Aw, can't we do something more interesting? Like explore some ruins or something more about making discoveries?" she begged. Alex privately had to agree a bit… something like this seemed… dull for lack of a better word.

Chatot wasn't having any of it and sharply snapped "Quiet!" making Eve flinch.

"You rookies need to pay your dues. I'll warn you one last time to make sure you know: if you get knocked out in a dungeon, you'll get booted out and you'll lose half your money on-hand and half your items as well. Now get to it!"

Eve was low to the ground by this point, clearly intimidated by Chatot's rather harsh words. Alex patted her on the shoulder and, with a resigned sigh, headed out with her to complete the job.

o0o

Drenched Bluff was, as the name implied, a damp location. It was largely a rocky place with water dripping and pouring in gentle little streams here and there, collecting in shallow pools in places. Alex had a pretty good feeling things would be rather similar to the Beach Cave.

"Alright, let's do this." Alex said confidently and giving his partner a smile, who returned it, they proceeded.

As expected, they encountered a number of Shellos on the Bluff, small slug-like pokemon who were, like in Beach Cave, water-types and didn't stand long against Alex and his electric shocks. At one point though, one managed to sneak up on Alex from the water. The snail hit the wet ground, splattering Alex with equally wet dirt. Being electric-type, Alex found this hurt more than it should've normally and the mud getting in his eyes didn't help when he attempted to counter-attack, making his attack fly far of its intended target. Eve tackled the Shellos, KOing it and guided Alex over to what she explained was a "Wonder Panel". As soon as he stepped on it, his vision cleared a bit and he felt like he could aim properly again.

They continued on down through the floors of the Bluff, collecting berries and other items on the way down; Eve seemed familiar with the majority of items and stopped Alex from trying to eat an Oren berry, a look-alike to Oran berries that would've made him sick. They also encountered a Chingling at one point, a pokemon that looked like a jingle-bell with a red and white ribbon hooked about behind it. The rather sinister bell wrapped Eve in that ribbon and Alex had to shock it a couple of times while it was trying to squeeze her before it finally passed out.

Soon, they finally reached an area and they spotted something round that glittered.

"That must be Spoink's pearl." Alex said as they approached the item. It was indeed a pearl, so they collected it and gently added it to their bag before heading back and leaving the Bluff.

o0o

They arrived back at the Guild before many of the other guild members and were greeted at the boards by a pokemon who turned out to be Spoink. Their client looked like a little black pig, who had no legs but instead bounced on a curled, spring-like tail. He was quite relieved when they handed him his pearl, which he immediately placed atop his own head.

"Whew." Spoink sighed "Thank you so much for retrieving my pearl for me. Without it propped up there on my head, I was bouncing and springing everywhere and banging my head on practically everything. That nightmare's over now though." Alex had to admit the fellow did have several small injuries across his head and was, overall looking very patched-up from the injuries.

Then Spoink pulled out a small mass of money and held it out to them as payment. Eve's eyes popped.

"Two thousand poke?" she exclaimed in disbelief "All of this for us?"

Spoink nodded, bouncing happily.

"But of course, that's _nothing_ on the value of my pearl. Thank you again." Spoink said cheerily and then bounced up the ladder and out (a feat that Alex found impressive). Chatot, who had been watching, stepped in.

"Well done, team." He said, sharing the congratulations "Now then, if you'll give that cash to me…"

Somewhere in Alex's head, the record playing celebrations had its needle ripped across it.

"What?" Both apprentices exclaimed.

Chatot riffled through the money, explaining.

"You see, the guild takes most of the money to fund its operations and other things. Your share comes out to this much:" the bird said, pulling out a few coins from the mass and handing them back to them.

"Only two hundred?" Eve cried "That's unfair!"

Chatot shrugged.

"Sorry, but it's the guild rule. You're just going to have to live with it."

Eve hung her head, grumbling about feeling cheated. Alex sighed and they went off to spend their spare time relaxing.

o0o

At one point during their time off, Alex noticed Loudred tending to a hole in the ground.

_Might as well try to apologize for trying to shock him this morning_

He approached the loud apprentice and got his attention.

"Hey Loudred, sorry about this morning."

"WHAT? The little SHOCK?" Loudred said, as loud as ever (though he wasn't smashing Alex's eardrums this time), then burst out in a guffaw "AH, don't WORRY about it! Wouldn't have hurt ME! BESIDES, I like a ROOKIE with some GUTS!" He then continued to laugh about it before turning back to his job, which as Alex learned later, was sentry duty.

Alex wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or what. But he was pretty sure that Loudred felt he was alright.

o0o

That evening, everyone was back from their missions and talking with their partners when dinner was called.

There was a mild stampede for the mess hall. Following that, everyone headed for bed.

As they lay down, Eve seemed to be content now, despite some of the rather disappointing events of the day. In response to Alex's gaze, which was apparently questioning, Eve smiled.

"It _was_ kind of disappointing when Chatot took all that money… but you know… What I really liked today was that we helped Spoink like that. Getting thanked by him was so satisfying. Let's keep it up tomorrow, okay Alex?"

Alex nodded, returning the smile and rolled over on his bed to get comfortable.

_It's certainly fun living here at the guild… but I'm still wondering…_

_Who am I?_ He spent a few minutes thinking but came up with nothing...

…_Oh well… I suppose it's not all going to come all at once. It'll come… in… time…_

With those thoughts and heavy eye-lids, Alex drifted off to sleep.


	5. Visions

_**Alright, this chapter is more or less exactly like the game, I'm sorry to say but don't worry, things will be more different from the game in later chapters.**_

**_In the meantime, I hope you enjoy. R&R please; ALWAYS looking to improve._**

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 4: Visions

"**UP AND AT 'EM! It's MORNING!"**

Alex got up with a milder headache than Loudred had given him the previous morning.

_I suppose he's being gentler in being brief like that…_

Eve got up, yawning and they headed out for the morning cheers.

o0o

After cheers were done, Eve glanced at Alex.

"So, what do you think they want us to do this time?"

This was answered when Chatot, upon turning his attention to them, signaled for them to follow him again.

Once again, they followed him up the ladder and over to a board. They noticed that this time, they went to the other board, which was adjacent to the ladder going down. Glancing at the board they'd worked at last time, Eve mentioned as much.

"Yes, you did do a job from that board. Today, you'll be doing one from _this_ board." Chatot said simply.

Raising an eyebrow, Alex asked the obvious question:

"Okay, so how's this board any different from the other one?"

Chatot gestured with one wing "Just take a look."

They looked over the board and noticed the one thing that stood out about every note posted: there was a picture of a pokemon included in almost every page. Those that didn't had a question mark on a black figure on them. After a moment, Eve took her turn to ask a question:

"Okay, there's a pokemon featured on each one of these… who are they? Famous explorers or something?"

"Outlaws." Chatot corrected her simply "They're wanted for wrongdoing and since there's so many, everyone's finding it difficult to deal with the problem. That's where you come in."

Alex felt his fur start standing on end from nervous tension as he realized what they were supposed to do.

"Y-You mean we're supposed to… t-take them down?" Alex stuttered… many of the faces on the board looked very tough and mean… "You can't be serious! We can't take all of them!" he said, hysteria edging his voice.

Chatot chuckled.

"I'm kidding! You're only going to be taking one and the outlaws here come in all level of… badness. Some are just petty thieves and others are outright evil and vile. So you've got evil to naughty… and everything in between!" Chatot chuckled as if this were still a simple matter "I'm sure we can avoid giving you anyone too terrible."

Eve was still quivering with some fear.

"They're still bad pokemon though, right? Those kinds of pokemon scare me…" she whimpered.

Chatot nodded in an understanding way.

"I suppose that's only natural but it's something you're going to need to learn to cope with. So I think I'll have someone show you around and show the various places we use every day to get ready."

With that Chatot turned towards the ladder going down and called:

"Bidoof! Bidoof!"

"Yep yep! I'm comin'!"

The pokemon who was evidently Bidoof emerged from the hole. He had a very furry face and buckteeth. He was fairly round both in body and face and walked on four-legs like Eve. Overall, he looked like a somewhat plump, tail-less mouse.

"You called?" Bidoof panted, he had apparently ran and was already a little out of breath, which given his appearance, didn't particularly surprise Alex.

"Yes. These are our two newest recruits, Bidoof." Chatot said, gesturing at them with one wing. Bidoof followed the gesture and glanced at them. Alex just waved a little as he looked.

"I want you to show them around town and show them the various facilities. Can you do that?" Chatot finished, using a tone that made Alex suspect that Bidoof had been known for messing some assignments up.

"Yep yep! Can do! I'll get right on that!" Bidoof said, adding pep to his voice.

"Good. I'll leave you to it." Chatot said, giving Bidoof a smile and then heading down with Bidoof following him with his eyes.

As Chatot disappeared down the ladder Bidoof jittered with excitement.

"Oooh… I could just blubber with happiness right now…" he mumbled to himself. Eve raised an eyebrow at his excitement.

"Why's that?" Bidoof turned to both of them.

"I finally have someone junior to me. Before you two showed, I was the most recent recruit around!"

Bidoof sniffled as tears of joy leaked from his small, bright eyes. He soon recomposed himself though.

"Right. Well, follow me then." He said, business-like now. They followed him down the ladder and Bidoof looked around, apparently deciding what to talk about first. He pointed to the left first.

"As you know, that way's to the guild bedrooms. (Pointing right) That way's to the mess hall." He then looked at the stand that appeared to be some sort of shop.

"And that there's Croagunk's shop… but to be honest, I don't have any idea what that pokemon's up to back there… yep, a big mystery to me." Bidoof looked a little embarrassed that he didn't know. Alex had seen Croagunk before, yesterday during their time off. The pokemon had his back turned almost the entire time, working on something in the back of the shop. The fellow stood on two legs and was mostly blue, but he had black hands with a single red claw coming out of the top of each hand. His mid-section appeared to be wrapped in some sort of cloth. Croagunk hadn't paid Alex any attention when he tried talking to him, apparently too busy to chat as he continued to be hunkered over whatever he was working on. Bidoof interrupted Alex's reflecting.

"Right, well if you'll follow me up, we'll head out to town and I'll show you around there."

They did so, heading up both ladders and outside. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they arrived at a crossroads that Alex had seen on the way to and from the Guild. Bidoof nodded at a well nearby on the left.

"I understand that there's a good place to regroup when you decide to take a break and all. Very useful if you do that frequently, yep yep!" Bidoof said then nodded at the path ahead that branched to the left "That way is off to adventure, you go that way to go to any of the dungeons." Alex remembered going that way…

Their tour guide looked straight ahead "That way's to the beach." Alex and Eve both nodded, aware of that.

"And that way is to Treasure Town. If you'll follow me, I'll show around there too." Bidoof said with a nod towards a path going right. They marched off in that direction and as they arrived, the sight of Treasure Town greeted Alex.

Pokemon of the town were wandering about, chatting with one another and doing business. Shops lined the road at regular intervals and the air was charged with a great feeling of contentment. Alex could tell this was a prosperous location. Bidoof chuckled in a jolly manner.

"Welcome to Treasure Town. I can tell you about the shops around here…"

Eve, who was already cheerful because of their friendly tour guide, perked up even more.

"Oh! I can tell you about Treasure Town too!"

She pointed to a primarily gray shop with a sort of skull design on the front.

"That's Duskull Bank, right there. You can save your money and even if you get KOed in a dungeon, it will remain safe there." Alex noticed that the owner, who he figured was Duskull, looked much like the bank. The design unnerved him slightly but Alex figured it would be as safe as Eve said. His partner indicated a shop further down the road, past a town square. The shop in question was yellow and black in design and like Duskull's Bank, he got the feeling the shop was probably designed to look like the owner.

"That's Electrivire's Link Shop. He helps explorers link moves so you can use one move right after another… but it doesn't look like he's in right now." On closer inspection, Alex noticed that the shop was indeed, empty. They moved on, going across a bridge to cross a wide but gentle stream. Eve next indicated a wide shop that was green and had two pokemon running it.

"That's Kecleon Market, run by the two brothers. Explorers buy supplies and equipment from them all the time." Alex noticed the Kecleon brothers, both looked much like chameleons, and though one was green like the shop and the other was an odd purple, they both had in common a single, orange, zigzagging stripe across their bellies.

Eve indicated one last shop at the end of the town that was mainly brown and had a number of drawers and other containers decorating it. Like the others, the shop was apparently designed to look like the owner.

"And that's Kangaskhan Storage. It's sorta like Duskull Bank: you can store your items there and Kangaskhan will keep them safe for you until you need them. She even stores more items for teams with higher ranks."

Eve turned to Alex and Bidoof, the latter looked pleasantly surprised.

"And that's the basic places I've seen exploration teams visit." She finished.

Bidoof might've applauded if his front legs had been free for the task.

"Yep yep! You sure know a lot, that you do." He said cheerfully. Eve smiled brightly in response.

"Aw thanks Bidoof. You've been real nice." Bidoof's face immediately flushed red.

"Aw shucks… Thanks." He said looking away in shyness before turning back to them, normal again.

"Right then, well I'll be waiting for you back at the guild and when you're ready, just come on back and I'll help y'all find yourselves an outlaw to bring in."

They nodded in agreement and Bidoof headed back. Eve then turned to Alex.

"Alright. First things first, I think we ought to pay a visit to Kecleon Market. Before we even considering heading back, going there's a must." Eve said firmly. Seeing this as reasonable, Alex agreed and they stepped over to the two brothers running their shop. The two welcomed them with full courtesy. Being that Alex and Eve didn't have much cash on hand though (only a little more than 200 poke), they couldn't afford anything that Alex saw as particularly useful. Nonetheless, he did purchase a few extra Oran Berries to be safe, as they were relatively cheap. Alex was just concluding business with the two brothers when someone else came walking up to the shop. Alex and his partner stepped aside to allow them room.

"Hello Misters Kecleon"

"Ah! Marill and little Azurill! Welcome!" Both brothers greeted these new customers with evident familiarity and very bright smiles.

Marill was very ball-like in shape, had round ears, was an aquatic blue all over though his belly was white, and had a long but scrunched tail that ended in a round blue ball that would've fit in Alex's paws.

Azurill was considerably smaller (being clearly younger) but looked very similar though he lacked arms. Unlike Marill though, Azurill's tail-ball was a bit bigger, nearly bigger than Azurill's body in fact and Alex was sure that the little guy could comfortably sit on his own ball if he wanted to. The fact that he got around with it indicated it must have been very lightweight. Azurill spoke up like the two were taking turns:

"Hello, may I buy an apple?"

The Kecleon brothers cheerily went through the transaction and handed them the purchased merchandise in a small bag, which they accepted with a polite thank you before heading back down the road the way they had come.

The shop owners then turned to Alex and Eve and explained:

"Those two boys are brothers. Their poor mother has fallen ill recently but they've impressively stepped up and take care of her and really taken charge." Alex could hear the fondness in the Kecleon's tone.

Then the two brothers they were talking about came running back to the shop.

"Misters Kecleon! There was an extra apple!" Marill said, somewhat panicked. Azurill held up a second apple from the bag.

"We didn't pay for this many."

"Ah yes, that apple is a gift for you two from me and my brother. Please accept it and enjoy." The green brother said graciously. Marill and his little brother looked outright overjoyed at this generosity.

With awe-struck cries of gratitude, they headed back down the road. Unfortunately, Azurill tripped and hit his head on the ground with a short cry of "Ouch!". The apple Azurill had been holding flew away and went rolling, coming to a halt right at Alex's feet.

The smile on Alex's face faltered with concern at this and picked up the apple off the ground. Azurill hopped back to his feet and walked up to Alex.

"Sorry to trouble you." He said with a polite little bow to Alex. Alex's smile returned and he held the apple out to Azurill. As the young pokemon took the apple back, he brushed Alex's hand… and that's when a sudden wave of vertigo hit Alex. He swayed…

_W-what?… what's happening?_

A second later, Alex saw a flash and everything was dark.

"_**H-h-HEELLLLPP!" **_someone screamed.

Another flash and Alex staggered backwards, back in the light of day as he had been.

_What just happened?_

Alex looked around, trying to see who had screamed right then. His eyes fell on Azurill before him, who was looking politely confused at his behavior.

_Was that… was that you?_

"Is something wrong?" Azurill asked him. Then Marill's voice came calling up the street.

"Azurill! Hurry up, we've got to get back to finding our lost item!" Azurill quickly turned and responded "Coming!" turned back to Alex, giving him another bow with a quick "Thank you" and then took off down the street after his brother. Alex stood there, still trying to figure out what had just happened. Eve didn't seem to notice Alex's expression but giggled as she watched.

"Those two brothers are sweet. That's so nice…" she turned to talk to Alex and finally noticed his stunned expression. She asked what was wrong. Alex shook his head, trying to straighten out his thoughts.

"Did you… didn't you hear that scream a second ago?" he said.

Eve's eyebrows popped up. She slowly shook her head, then glanced at the Kecleon brothers.

"Hey. Did you either of you hear someone scream just now?" she asked them.

They wore similarly confused looks and said no. She turned back to Alex.

"Maybe you were hearing things Alex. A bad daydream?" she suggested.

_No… I'm pretty sure that was real… and it was Azurill who screamed…_

Alex couldn't put together what just happened though and shrugged it off.

"Let's head back to the guild."

o0o

On their way through the town square, they noticed Marill and Azurill talking excitedly about something with another pokemon who looked rather human in shape. The fellow had a yellow upper body but the waist-down was black. He had arms and legs like a normal person but his face featured a snout-like nose that hung down loosely out in front and tired-looking eyes.

"What's going on?" Eve said as they approached. Marill and Azurill turned and their companion also turned to face them as well.

"Mr. Drowzee here overheard me calling Azurill about our lost item just a minute ago. We've been searching for a long time for this missing item now and Mr. Drowzee just said he thinks he may have seen it somewhere recently." Marill explained. Azurill next to him was bouncing excitely.

"I'm so happy I could burst!"

Drowzee smiled kindly.

"Aw… I'd have to have a cold heart to turn a blind eye to someone in need like this." He said "Come on then, let's begin our search."

With eager cries of agreement, the two brothers headed out of town. Drowzee started to follow and bumped into Alex on the way.

"Whoops. Pardon me." He said out of courtesy before following the two brothers out. Alex almost missed that because another wave of dizziness hit him just then.

_What? Again?_

Once again, a flash hit Alex's vision but this time, he found himself watching a darkened scene in a place that looked like somewhere on a mountain. Drowzee was glaring at Azurill with an annoyed expression, Azurill himself looked terrified. It was amazing how that kindly looking face could change to be so intimidating.

_"If you keep resisting like this, it will mean BIG trouble for you!"_ Azurill quivered and finally cried out:

"_**H-h-HEELLLLPP!"**_

A flash brought Alex abruptly back to where he actually was and he almost fell over.

_What the heck?_

Eve was watching the trio leaving with a fond smile on her face.

"That Drowzee sure is nice. What with how things are going wrong in the world nowadays, it's hard to do good deeds like that." She commented.

Alex's face was broken out in a cold sweat… the irony of what he'd just seen against what his partner had just said was so immense, he might've laughed if the situation hadn't looked so serious. Eve looked at him and saw his expression.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Alex swallowed and walked over to place out of the way. "Come over here… I want to tell you something."

Eve followed, looking curious. There, Alex related what he'd just seen. Eve looked positively shocked by the end and Alex stated his desire to stop this tragedy from happening. Eve looked uncertain though…

"Well, y-yes it does sound like an emergency but… I just can't believe it. That Drowzee looked so kind… I just can't believe he's a bad guy. Are you sure you weren't just daydreaming, Alex?"

Alex sighed and thought it over…

_Really? Just a bad dream? Then again… he _did_ look kind enough…_

Eve cut-in on his thoughts.

"Well, even so… we _are_ just rookies, we can't just go running off at the slightest provocation anyways." She said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood. "C'mon, Bidoof's waiting for us." Alex sighed again and followed her back to the guild.

o0o

When they approach Bidoof waiting by the outlaw board, he greeted them.

"Well, y'all ready then?" They nodded in response.

"Alright then! Let's choose ourselves a law-breaker for you ta find."

"No one scary please." Eve murmured, back to quivering again.

"Gotcha." Bidoof said and started to pick someone at random when a muffled set of voices called from the walls.

"CAUTION: UPDATING BOARDS! PLEASE STAND CLEAR! CAUTION: UPDATING BOARDS! PLEASE STAND CLEAR!"

They did as commanded and backed up, Eve looking panicked. Then the outlaw board flipped to Alex and Eve's surprise, and they were looking at a blank panel of wood.

"Ah, looks like they're updating the boards." Bidoof commented, stating what had just been said.

"Updating?" Eve asked.

"Yeah. There's a feller apprentice by the name of Dugtrio whose responsibility is to update the job boards. Y'know, take down the old and put up new ones. The boards are set so they revolve. It's not a job that gets noticed too of'en but it's _very_ important."

"UPDATE COMPLETE! STAND CLEAR! UPDATE COMPLETE! STAND CLEAR!" the voices, apparently Dugtrio, suddenly called from what must have been the other side of the board.

"Oh, sounds like he's done." Eve commented. A moment later, the board flipped again and there were definitely new pages posted on the board.

"Alright then, board's all refreshed so let's pick an outlaw for you now." Bidoof said cheerily.

Alex though, noticed his partner shaking violently as she glared at the board.

"Alex! _Look there! Upper left_!"

Alex looked at the outlaw board and his eyes roved to the upper left corner… his blood ran cold… and one thought shot through his mind:

_I knew it!_

Posted on the board was a picture of the same Drowzee they had seen no more than fifteen minutes ago.

"Azurill's in trouble! Let's go!" Eve yelled and both apprentices charged up the ladder and out, leaving Bidoof behind, wondering what all the ruckus was about.


	6. To the Rescue!

**_I had this chapter roiling about in my head so I finally just did it too today. I kinda show the nightmare of dealing with Drowzee in the game in this chapter: Foresight._**

**_Anyways, I hope you enjoy. _=)**

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 5: To the Rescue!

Alex and Eve raced down the steps and arrived at the crossroads to see Marill looking very worried.

Given what they'd figured out just moments ago, they had a good guess what had him worried.

As they approached, Marill noticed them and waved them down. Eve immediately asked

"Marill, where's Azurill?"

Marill had been about to speak and was taken aback at first but continued anyways.

"Yes, about him. Drowzee and Azurill went ahead somewhere and I tried to follow them but I lost them and… well, it goes without saying I'm worried now."

Alex didn't waste any time hesitating to ask him to lead them to where the outlaw had lead them.

o0o

Soon, they were at the foot of Mount Bristle.

"You're sure they went this way?" Eve asked Marill who nodded.

The Eevee glanced at Alex who just nodded. He didn't need to speak… Eve understood this was where he had seen his vision.

"Let's hurry Alex." Eve said simply and they ran up the mountain.

o0o

Alex found the small mountain to be considerably more challenging than the previous dungeons they had explored. For starters, the terrain was much rougher, they were going over rocks and other debris. Second, one of the first inhospitable residents of the mountain proved to a Geodude, effectively rocks as large as Alex himself with arms and a face. He attempted to shock one, which scoffed at his attempt and slammed into him in a very uncomfortable tackle; getting hit by a rock, alive or not, was never a nice experience.

He found himself valuing Eve's support at this point more than ever, she backed his attacks and they managed to take down even the hardy Geodude they encountered regularly. Futhermore were the birds they ran into up on the mountain.

One Starly, a small, black and white bird pokemon, shot forward at Alex before he could shock it and struck him harder than he expected. He got closer only for the bird to repeat its blindingly fast strike.

"That's enough!" Alex yelled and unleashed a stream of electricity at the bird, who was fried like so many other opponents he had faced. Alex almost collasped then, if Eve hadn't quickly pulled out an Oran Berry and given it to him to eat. Grateful to have bought the extra supplies, Alex ate it and steadied himself, feeling refreshed.

As they neared the top, Alex was starting to tire and he was getting hungry. He had electrocuted several birds on the way up the mountain and had been poisoned at least once by a rabbit-like Nidoran (fortunately, they had found a Pecha berry on the Bluff the previous day, which counter-acted the poison). He was now feeling drained. His partner stepped up.

"Alex, let me handle some of the enemies for now. We're almost there and I'm still good for a few more smaller battles."

Breathing heavily, Alex allowed her past and followed Eve. She withstood most attacks and slammed herself into several opponents. Alex noticed as she fought that she wasn't showing any sign of fear… perhaps it was just the will to save Azurill… He continued to follow her as they forged on.

They finally reached what seemed to be the end of the trail and hear a cry:

"H-h-HEEEELLP!"

It seemed to echo in Alex's mind against his memory.

Eve saw the scene before them and spoke up immediately.

"Stop Drowzee!"

Alex followed her out into the clearing to see Drowzee whirling on the spot, looking stunned. Azurill was behind him, frozen in place by fear.

"We're Team Long Ears and we're here to stop you, you bad guy!" his partner declared in a very bold tone.

Drowzee's expression was one of deep worry as he noticed the badges they were wearing.

"An-an exploration team? Y-you came here to apprehend…" he started to stammer then he apparently noticed something.

"Wait a minute, are you shaking?"

Alex looked over at his partner, who was indeed, shaking very hard and her expression was tight. She was clearly extremely nervous but trying to keep herself from cowering.

Drowzee's eyes lit up with realization.

"Oh ho ho… I get it now." He chuckled lightly "You _are_ an exploration team but you're complete _rookies_, aren't you?"

Eve swallowed hard. Drowzee proceeded to laugh before giving them a smirk.

"Yeah, I'm an outlaw. And you think you can take _me_ on?"

Eve forced herself to stop shaking and retorted:

"Yes! Yes, we can!" However, her tension got to her voice and it was higher than she likely intended.

Drowzee chuckled, shaking his head slowly.

"I've seen plenty of exploration teams before but I don't think any were more sorry-looking than you two."

Alex reached up and pushed his ear back to keep it from falling over his eyes.

"Don't judge a book by its cover." He said, summoning up what energy he had left for the fight.

Drowzee motioned in response and called out:

"Alright then, let's see what you got then kids."

Alex ran forward with Eve alongside him and he unleashed a blast of electricity at the outlaw. To his surprise, Drowzee sidestepped the attack well before it hit and evaded Eve when she attempted to tackle him.

Drowzee raised a fist and brought it down on Alex with a laugh, knocking him back.

Eve attempted to tackle him again, getting him from behind.

Again, Alex attempted to electrocute Drowzee, but to his frustration, Drowzee sidestepped the attack again.

_How the heck is he doing that every time?_

"Alex! He's a psychic-type!" Eve called. Alex blinked, trying to figure out how that was supposed to help, as he didn't know any moves that were super-effective on psychic-types.

Drowzee's eyes flashed and a sudden force hit Alex's mind like a seizure. He staggered but remained on his feet. He pulled out another Oran Berry and ate it while Eve, who was still looking nervous, tackled the outlaw again.

Drowzee glanced at her then and murmured "Time for a nap."

Eve's eyes fluttered as she looked at Drowzee and she collapsed, snoring.

Alex found himself alone in this fight for the moment.

_What was she trying to tell me?_

Then he noticed how Drowzee seemed to be focusing on him in an unusual manner…

_Wait a minute…_

Alex charged at the outlaw again and unleashed a stream of electricity at Drowzee, but this time, he held back. Drowzee misjudged the action, to his peril, and didn't bother evading the attack.

"What, you out of juice already little Pikachu?" Drowzee snorted as the electricity tickled him. Then he tried to move and found himself very stiff. It was Alex's turn to laugh.

"Thunder Wave. You can't evade attacks if you can't move, even if you _can_ foresee them."

Drowzee's expression turned to dread as Alex unleashed a full blast on him. And did it again… and again.

Eve woke up just as Alex expelled the last of his electricity into Drowzee. The outlaw swayed and then collapsed with a groan.

"Ugh… sorry I wasn't much help on that last stretch Alex." She said as she got up. Alex smiled despite feeling like he might fall over to take a nap out of sheer fatigue.

"Actually, if you hadn't told me that he was psychic, I might not have realized what he was doing. I owe you for that." Alex said.

They then turned to Azurill, still quivering in the back. Eve spoke up first,

"Are you okay? You're not hurt in any way?" she asked.

Azurill seemed to calm down as he realized he was in safe-hands now and answered he was okay in a tone that was still timid. Eve smiled, relieved to hear he was unharmed.

"Alright, let's get you down from here and back home."

o0o

Back at the foot of Mt. Bristle, Alex, his partner and Azurill watched as the local police chief and his deputies took Drowzee under custody. After officer Magnezone and his two deputy Magnemite thanked Alex and Eve for the their assistance in catching the outlaw, they lead Drowzee off, who looked very sorry for himself.

Then behind them they heard Marill:

"Azurill!"

They all turned and approached Marill… after several moments, Azurill finally charged into Marill's arms, his calm demeanor shattering as he started crying loudly about how he'd been so scared.

Eve was perhaps the happiest to see the two brothers reunited.

o0o

Back at the Guild, Chatot met them at the boards.

"Well done! Bidoof told me about how you had run off like that. You had me concerned at first there but you came out with a great success. Officer Magnezone has already given me the bounty on that outlaw you captured… and here's your share."

…They received 300 poke.

"What? All that work and we only get 300 poke?" Eve exclaimed in disbelief. Chatot stood silent for moment before answering with a smile:

"Yep. And we expect just as much work from you in the future. Keep it up." With that, Chatot left.

"I'd be happier if we got _just_ a bit more of the reward…" Eve grumbled, but after a moment she perked up

"Oh well, at least we rescued Azurill! And it's all thanks to that dream you had!"

It hit Alex then how things might've been different if they hadn't shown up sooner… and they had only gotten there so quickly because of what he'd seen. Eve gave him a sunny smile.

"That might be a handy ability in the future." She commented, her mood seemed it couldn't be spoiled by anything.

Then they heard two deep growls and found themselves looking at their stomachs. They burst out laughing.

"I guess we were so focused on Drowzee at the end there, we forgot how hungry we were getting." Alex laughed. Another growl and Eve giggled some more before turning for the ladder down.

"Well, I'm even hungrier now, so let's go eat!"

o0o

Conversation over dinner turned to what was causing all these "bad pokemon" to appear.

"Oh my gosh, I heard about your job today. I could hardly believe it when I heard!" an apprentice commented over dinner. She was a grass-type with a very long neck and a head that looked very much like a flower. Alex had heard her name was Sunflora.

"YEAH! Then AGAIN, anyone who's got the GUTS to try SHOCKING me would HAVE to be TOUGH!" Loudred laughed.

"Hey hey, there's plenty outlaws to go around, what with time going crazy lately. Hey hey." Another apprentice who looked like a crayfish said. This one Alex had learned was Corphish.

"Well, I hear some think it's because of the Time Gears." Eve said before eating a nice-looking berry.

"Nonsense!" Chatot cut-in "Even harden criminals leave those alone. Everyone knows that they keep time in order where they are found."

Curious, Alex asked something that came to mind:

"So, if someone _were_ to steal one? What would happen?"

Chatot blinked, stopping what he was doing to give Alex a somewhat questioning look.

"I'd think the results would be obvious: time would come to a halt there. Which is why everyone knows to leave them well enough alone." He then resumed eating.

o0o

A storm was setting in that night…

Alex laid on his bed… reflecting on the evening's conversation as lightning flashed outside.

_So Time Gears keep time going…_

He rolled over…

_Hmmm… why do I feel like there's something else about them I need to know…  
>And what's with these visions? They're useful, sure... but if only I could control them...<em>

Alex sighed, unable to find answers to any of his questions and just settled in to sleep.


	7. For a Friend

_**A short chapter. Just a bit on Grovyle and Alex's past. Next chapter will also be on Grovyle, but it will be a matter that isn't addressed in the game.**_

_**As always: enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chatper 6: For a Friend

It had been a few days now and Grovyle was racing through the storm that was attacking the night.

It went without saying, he was concerned for his human partner.

"Where could he be anyways?" the grass-type muttered to himself "A human in a world of pokemon after all? How long could a human be in this world without being found? News of a human appearing would be immediately spread faster than a wildfire."

Grovyle shook himself, discarding the issue.

"No, we both came here to do this job… he must be out here somewhere, just trying to get to the Time Gears too."

However, other thoughts would not be kept from his mind.

_What if he was lost in the passage, because of whatever hit him?_

_What if he was erased in the passage because of that? Rather than dying, ceasing to exist?_

Grovyle had to stop and climbed up a tree, where he perched himself on a branch to organize his rebellious mind.

Back in the future, it had been rebellious to begin with: he wasn't going to put up with that future if he could do something make it better, even if it was purely for everyone else.

But now, it was rebellious in an entirely different way. It didn't seem to want to stay focused on the task at-hand.

_I need to stop worrying about Alex… he can take care of himself. He did it for who-knows-how-long before we met after all._

Grovyle snorted, admitting to himself that to say Alex "took care of himself" back in the future without him, was a bit of a stretch. He had been trying to stave off the Sableye with a twig, failing spectacularly, when Grovyle had found him and saved him from capture.

After spending a few days with Grovyle, Alex had opened up and shared how he had ended up in this world in the first place. At first, Grovyle had been too focused on trying to figure out a way to fix the time-problem to pay much attention.

But after the human had shielded him from one of Dusknoir's ambushes and helped him escape, Grovyle had started getting attached to the boy.

Of course, any conversation was necessarily one-sided, being that the boy couldn't understand a word Grovyle might've tried speaking. Alex hadn't had any complaints about that…

_Then again, he probably did but didn't mention them. He never _did_ complain under even the hardest of circumstances._

Alex had apparently just been traveling when the… ship he had been on-board had an incident. It had sunk and Alex had tried swimming to the nearest shore he came across. He had passed out though and through some miracle, ended up on the Hidden Land, unconscious at first. He hadn't been sure why he hadn't drowned.

Grovyle had no ideas on the matter either. He wasn't even sure what a "ship" was.

All he was sure of was that the boy had come from some distant land and he had proved to be Grovyle's only constant friend throughout all his travels. Celebi was another pokemon to talk to but she was… strange for lack of a better word and she was gone far too often for Grovyle to become as attached to. Anyone else was either an enemy, or someone who was corrupted from the darkness in the future and wanted nothing to do with Grovyle.

Then there was the matter of Alex's strange, unique ability. According to Alex himself, he hadn't had such an ability until after he ended up in the Hidden Land. Then again, they had deduced that it only worked around Time Gear locations…

Grovyle didn't waste his time reflecting on if Time Gears existed where Alex came from.

Lightning cracked the sky, drawing Grovyle out of his thoughts.

_Wherever he is, I hope he's alive… and safe. At least in this world, he's not as liable to be attacked… though Dusknoir and his underlings will be a concern once they come to the past as well._

Grovyle leapt from the tree and landed smoothly on the ground. He was sure he was close to the Time Gear now. It wasn't long before he saw a… an unearthly glow and went to investigate.

"Is that… a Time Gear?" he murmured as he looked at the object… "Yes! It is!" he was sure.

_It's only the first of many but I must get all of them… I can't give up now._ He grabbed the Gear and time immediately reacted. The rain stopped and things slowed down… until the area was gray and still.

Grovyle felt an uneasy shiver run through him… it reminded him uncomfortably of where he had come from.

_Easy… it's only until we fix this mess by getting these to the Tower._

Easing himself with these words, Grovyle turned and headed out for the next Time Gear.


	8. Quest for a Time Gear

_**Last chapter was quite short so I decided to do this one too. This one is original to me. As far as I know, no one else has done a part like this.**_

_**Read & Review please. I'd like to make sure this chapter is good.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 7: A Quest for a Time Gear

As fast as he was alone, Grovyle still took a couple of days to arrive at the southern peninsula. He had been tempted to try collecting the Time Gear at the Fogbound Lake on the way but he and Alex had found (thanks to the human's unique ability) that that particular gear was guarded by a fairly powerful entity.

"I'll get it next when I come back…" Grovyle promised himself…

o0o

After two days of non-stop running from Treeshroud Forest, he arrived at the Southern Jungle. Grovyle had been running nearly all his life and had a phenomenal level of stamina. Even so, even he was quite winded by the time he arrived.

As he took a few minutes to rest and restore his strength before tackling the jungle ahead… he felt he was being watched. His ability to sense this sort of thing had been honed by years of surviving in the future. He gazed around, attempting to spot whoever was spying on him… but as he looked, the feeling faded and he felt quite alone. He didn't discard the notion someone had been there… they had just moved on. For all he knew, it could've been Dusknoir or one of his Sableye setting up for a plan to ambush him early.

He ended his rest-period and headed into the jungle.

Unfriendly residents of the jungle attempted to stop him wherever he went. He cut down all of them or just out-ran them. He saw no reason to tackle every fight.

Due to his strength being beyond that of most of the resident pokemon, he proceeded rather quickly and soon emerged into a clear pathway, which he charged on down.

o0o

He arrived at what appeared to be a massive area of plateaus and ahead of him lay a small maze. The grass-type couldn't hold back a smirk… this looked like an area where there'd be plenty of rock and ground-types…

_This should probably be easy enough for me._

Without hesitating, he headed into the mystery dungeon, not paying enough attention to notice someone was watching him again.

Inside the maze of plateaus, Grovyle, indeed ran into many Golem (large, ball-shaped walking boulders with limbs) and some steel-types such as Lairon (which looked like a large lizard plated in metal armor).

Grovyle experienced little trouble removing all from his path. He was forced to use a Foe-Hold Orb once or twice when a Monster House proceeded to rain unfriendly pokemon on him in order to escape. Those had always been a pain to deal with, with or without Alex's help.

He found himself wishing he at least had his companion with him for conversation if not support in battle. However, Grovyle again pushed these issues to back of his mind… Alex wasn't here and wishing him here would only distract him. He didn't notice he had paused to do this in a clearing, as he had been so focused on moving forward.

The ground began to shake… then with a loud crashing noise, an Aggron erupted from the ground. The steel-plated pokemon towered over Grovyle who backed up; Aggron resembled a dinosaur in some respects and looked virtually like a moving fortress with its metal armor. The ground shook more and with twin-crashing noises, a group of six Lairon came tunneling out of the walls on either side of Grovyle and spread out behind him.

He had been surrounded.

_Funny how I can't help thinking of Dusknoir and his henchmen, seeing this… then again perhaps they've been hired by him? I wouldn't put it past him…_ Grovyle thought, looking around apprehensively.

"Gra hah hah! Where are you going in such a hurry? Don't you know this is our territory?" the Aggron bellowed.

Grovyle suppressed a groan… typical…

"I have no quarrel with any of you but if you're going to get in my way, then I'm just going to have to make you move." Grovyle growled. The Aggron laughed at this.

"Well now, you've got spunk. Let's see what you've got! Lairon! Attack!"

Grovyle whirled and slashed the first Lairon to come close to him with a Leaf Blade on his wrist. His blow was hard and merciless, the pokemon was knocked straight to the ground with a severe cut across its body.

The other five Lairon closed in and Grovyle moved out of the way as they attempted to scratch him with their steel claws.

_I _really_ don't have time for this!_

He slashed another, who took the blow and attempted to body-slam the grass-type. Grovyle was knocked to the ground. They all pounced on the chance to knock him out right then.

They all hit the site at once, throwing up a massive amount of dust. When it cleared, they blinked when they saw their target had disappeared.

Then Grovyle exploded from the ground under one Lairon and launched the steel-type into the air, the pokemon ended up helpless on its back as Grovyle landed on the ground behind the group.

"You're not the only one who can Dig!" Grovyle snarled and disappeared into the ground again before the Lairon could attack again.

Again, Grovyle exploded from the ground moments later, knocking out another Lairon in his attack. Only three left.

He lashed another with his Leaf Blades, knocking that one too to the ground. He was attacking with a ferocity that he rarely showed.

The remaining steel-types attempted to charge at him and Grovyle absorbed another blow before grabbing his attacker, who abruptly felt a mass of energy get drawn out of him as the grass-type used Absorb. The pokemon collasped, out of energy to move.

The remaining Lairon looked around, panicking as it realized it was the only one of its kin standing (aside from the Aggron). Grovyle didn't give it a chance to think and put it down with Leaf Blade.

He then turned to face his final opponent: Aggron.

"Now that your underlings are done with, are you going to let me through or do I need to show you what I can do further?" Grovyle said, his voice tight.

Aggron, misjudging Grovyle's power from his size, charged.

The grass-type disappeared into the ground again and Aggron felt something land on its back moments later.

Grovyle lashed the Aggron with Leaf Blade repeatedly. Though his opponent struggled and shook, trying to dislodge his deadly rider, Grovyle held on until Aggron finally toppled to the ground, defeated.

Grovyle jumped off his fallen opponent, who unsteadily got to its feet before calling retreat and diving back into the ground. The Lairon got up and ran back into the tunnels they had come from.

_That's one thorn-in-the-side out of my way…_

Then Grovyle breathed out and felt the fatigue set in.

_I think I was reminded a little too much of Dusknoir… I put more into that fight than I needed to._

He walked onwards out of the clearing and into a cave.

He looked over what lay before him.

The cave was tinted a deep violet from the rocks and light streaming in. It looked like a simple branching path: left or right.

Seeing that there were no enemies here, Grovyle sat down against the wall and took a minute to rest again while he tried to recall which way they had gone in the future when they had visited this site.

_Was left, wasn't it? I can't remember… wish I had made a note or something to remind me…_

The only thing Grovyle had kept as a mental note was where the Time Gears were in general… he couldn't remember some of the details of getting there…

After a minute, he got up, visited the Kangaskhan statue, which allowed him to store or retrieve items and, having resuppied his bag from using items on the way, he went left.

He proceeded quickly, not wishing to waste any time and got through the cave faster than he expected…

Only to find himself back at the branching paths. He scowled…

_Great… it must have been right then… me and my memory._

He went right and again, proceeded quickly, dealing with only a few enemies as he went.

He was soon… back where he started again.

"Okay… I need to slow down here and think…" Grovyle muttered to himself.

He sat down again, between the two paths.

_What would Alex do to try and solve this problem?_

The first thing that he considered was the human might have tried searching the walls. Grovyle glanced around and noted that the walls were all very smooth and made of limestone… no sign of any sort.

"That's Plan B down the drain…" Grovyle sighed with roll of the eyes.

_Make a way forward?_

He remembered one time they had come across a rockslide that had covered a way forward… the two of them had dug their way forward. Grovyle however quickly knew this wouldn't work here as the walls all looked very stable and solid.

"Argh…" Grovyle groaned and sat back against the wall, mentally berating himself.

He fell right into it.

After several moments of reorienting himself, Grovyle got up and looked around the cave he had sat backwards into.

_Some sort of illusionary wall?_ He thought with some wonderment as he looked back out the way he had come. He shrugged.

_Impressive but I don't have time to be admiring this. The Time Gear is waiting._

Grovyle charged into the cave.

o0o

He arrived at a large room after a while of searching through the passages of the cave.

The room looked like a sloped arena of some sort with a large entrance going deeper in the back.

He walked towards that entrance and someone came walking out to meet him…

He blinked and so did the one meeting him. Grovyle found himself… looking _at_ himself.

"Alright… who are you?" he said to the other Grovyle. His twin spoke at the same time, the same thing.

_I know this isn't a mirror I'm looking at. This is a clone… but where have I seen this sort of thing before?_

He attempted to get around his clone but it was like trying to force an actual mirror. His twin displayed the same level of strength and everything.

"Again, who are you?" Grovyle repeated "I _know_ I'm not looking in a mirror so you're _not_ me!" he stated clearly. He twin mimicked the action again. Annoyed with this, he attempted to slash his clone and his attack was countered with the same. He ended up getting hurt.

Tending to the injury on his arm, he spoke to the clone again, who was also tending an identical wound.

"Alright… if you won't tell me who you are, then will you tell me why I'm not allowed past?"

This time, his clone responded after mimicking the question.

"You know what will happen if the Time Gear is removed."

"Yes, time will stop here." Grovyle acknowledged.

"So… why do you want to cause a disaster like that?"

"Well, because it's going to happen anyways even if I don't. I'm trying to stop it from happening." Grovyle said bluntly.

"You come from the future… so why attempt to stop something that makes you who you are?"

Grovyle realized what his twin was getting at.

"Because…" the words coming hard to him "I've already accepted that… I have nothing left to live for in a future like that. But there are so many here that do… I want to give them a better future." Grovyle ended with a sigh, knowing that talking of this was attempting to shake his resolve… but he had already made a promise alongside Alex to do this to the end; he wasn't changing his mind now. Not now… not ever.

"So you will put away everything you are to do this?" the clone asked. Grovyle merely nodded.

The clone bowed his head and then shined before turning a deep pink.

A flash of light from the figure and there was a pink blob with a somewhat blank face sitting before Grovyle.

"A Ditto… I should've known…" Grovyle murmured.

"I thought you might be another explorer out to steal the Gear for some poor reason…" The Ditto spoke in a soft tone, the fellow looked tired from holding its form. "But I think I can trust you… I can see your resolve."

"Thank you for understanding." Grovyle said with calm gratitude and got up. The Ditto lead him back and in the back of the cave… there shown a Time Gear.

Grovyle solemnly took the Time Gear and, glancing at the Ditto one last time, he headed out.


	9. An Actual Exploration

**_Whew... long chapter. =P_**

**_I try to put in a bit of extra when I can but maybe that wasn't something I should've done for this chapter._**

**_Ah well... I still hope it's good. Read & Review please, I always want to try make the chapters the best I can._**

PMD2: A Novelization

Chapter 8: An Actual Exploration

For the past few days, Alex and Eve had been getting into the routine of Guild work and Chatot had been leaving them to decide what jobs to take for themselves.

One morning, Loudred had called them over to the hole he was usually shouting down and it had been revealed that Diglett had to do something for his dad (who was apparently Dugtrio) and asked them to take over his job for the day. After straightening out what they were supposed to do with Loudred, Alex and his partner went down the hole and tried sentry duty.

Alex had found he wasn't very good at sentry duty… he hardly knew anything about footprints which was what sentry duty revolved around and he didn't exactly spend his free time observing other pokemons' feet meaning he didn't know even half the pokemon that visited the guild by their footprints. Eve frequently had to correct him and by the end of that day, Alex was feeling thoroughly humiliated. Chatot rewarded them for their efforts but Alex could tell the bird wasn't all that impressed with their work under the grate.

They continued their work, doing board-jobs and the two apprentices soon were had a higher team rank. They were rewarded for this with new badges, emblazoned with a different gem to indicate their rank.

o0o

Alex was starting to get up earlier and earlier now and one day, he was just getting up as Loudred came in to give them a wake up call again. The loud apprentice had been a little surprised to at first to find him already awake but then treated him to a pleased smile and headed back out.

Alex woke up his partner (who was still asleep) and they headed out for the morning routine.

Following the cheers, Chatot got their attention.

"I've noticed how you two have been working hard and, though you're new, you've done more than even I would've expected from such a young team. Therefore, I've seen fit to assign you a task worthy of a true exploration team." Eve looked curious and by the time Chatot finished, she was clearly excited.

"You two, will be going to explore a location and unveil whatever secrets it may have."

This was something Eve had been waiting for, for a while now. She attempted to keep calm as she asked where they were going to explore. Chatot had them pull out their wonder map.

"There," Chatot pointed at a site a short ways to the north-east of Treasure Town "As you can see by the map, there's a waterfall there. We want you to go there and uncover whatever secrets you can find there. Is that clear?"

Chatot looked up as he asked this, to see Eve smiling with tears in her eyes. The tears appropriately startled him.

"A-are you alright, Eve?" he stuttered, concern in his tones. Eve nodded.

"Y-yeah… I'm alright… just excited." She said in a soft voice, she then turned to Alex as they put away the map and a shiver ran through her.

"Ooh, I can't _wait_! Let's go, Alex!" she said. It was a wonder to Alex that she didn't explode right there.

o0o

The walk to the waterfall was a short one and soon, they were soon standing on a rock ledge before the wall of water, a thick mist curling through the air, chilling them as they stood. They looked around the site, looking for anything immediately suspicious.

"So… where do you think we should start?" Eve said, looking at Alex. Alex looked around again, trying to see something to investigate. All there was though, was the waterfall in front of them and damp rocks all around. Eve wandered forward and, in trying to look around the waterfall, got a little too close.

"Yipe!" she cried out as some of the water pounded on her and she jumped back, shaking the water off her head.

"Jeez, I didn't think it'd be coming down _that _hard!" Eve said, looking at the waterfall with a stunned look.

Alex stepped up to the waterfall and stuck out a paw to feel the water.

It felt a little like trying to catch a rockslide in just that paw. He quickly withdrew the paw, which was already starting to feel a little numb from the cold water and pounding.

"See? That water's coming down like a storm, isn't it?" Eve said, looking around more. "Where do we even start? I don't see anything here."

Then the familiar vertigo hit Alex.

_What? This again? Why-?_

His vision flashed and he was viewing the waterfall again. An oval-shaped figure silhouetted in shadows came walking up to the waterfall and looked around. They appeared to be contemplating for a moment and then, to Alex's shock, they charged at the waterfall and jumped!

His sight followed them through the waterfall and the figure tumbled into a cave behind the wall of water. The shadow looked around one last time before proceeding deeper into the cave.

Then the vision vanished and Alex had to steady himself to keep from stumbling.

_Another vision?_

Eve was still looking for a clue as Alex reflected on what he'd just seen.

She noticed his perplexed look.

"What's wrong, Alex?" then she recognized the expression "Did you have another one of those visions?"

Alex nodded vaguely and then related what he'd seen. His partner looked over the waterfall following the explanation.

"A cave behind the waterfall?" she murmured then she got nervous "I don't know… that water's coming down really hard. You felt it. If there's just a rock wall back there…" she shuttered at the thought. "You _know_ we'd get pounded by all that water."

She turned to face Alex, concern etched on her face now.

"Are you _sure_ about this? You're _sure_ there a cave back there?"

Alex wasn't sure himself but the last vision had been true… why not this one?

Eve apparently saw the determination that crossed his face as she straightened out her own and nodded.

"Alright then, I'm going to trust you on this. We'll jump through there. Together."

Alex returned the nod.

"Not like we've got anything else to work off of." Alex said with a nervous laugh.

Eve backed up to get a running start at the waterfall and Alex joined her. She was still nervous though and she shivered. Then she shook her head and focused, murmuring encouragement to herself:

"Alright… I need to be brave… I don't go through at full speed, I'll get pounded into the water, wall or no wall." She glanced at Alex who gave her an encouraging nod.

"Alright!" she said aloud "On three. One… two…" they both tensed "THREE!" they charged and jumped at the wall of fluid. All of Alex's doubts attempted to assert themselves in those seconds.

_Oh man! We're history!_

They both ended up yelling out, eyes squeezed shut, fully expecting to slam into a rock wall waiting for them.

Alex hit the water, and felt like several, wet Geodude were falling on him for half a second. Then he fell through open air for several moments before he hit horizontal ground and tumbled several feet.

"Oof!" "Ouch!"

Alex got up and shook himself off, throwing specks of water around. His ear hung in his sight as he looked up.

Eve was next to him, getting up as well and also shaking excess moisture off. In front of them, was the same cave he had seen in his vision. It was dark since little light was getting through the waterfall behind them but nonetheless, it was lit enough that they could see a few feet ahead.

"Wow…" Eve gasped as she viewed the scene "You were right, Alex! You were right!" her excitement from before returning.

"Alright! Let the exploration begin!" she cried out and charged forward, Alex hastily swept his ear back up and followed her, a smile plastered across his face. He found he liked Eve when she was so happy.

o0o

The cave behind the waterfall proved to be more complex than the dungeons they had encountered thus far.

This wasn't to say it was hard to traverse though, especially with Alex handling most of the fights against the water-types in the dungeon. Eve helped though, especially when they came across pokemon like Barboach or Wooper, both of which were ground-types.

There was also the matter the pools of water flooding most of the floors. The water made it difficult to get around and the water-types liked to come at them from the water. Fighting in dungeons over the past few days had strengthen both of the guild-members though. Alex had gotten faster and could even jump out at these water-dwelling foes and leap back to land safely. Eve had harden as well and wasn't so shy anymore in a fight.

They stopped at one point to rest. Eve gazed around at the cave walls.

"Pretty isn't it?" she commented as Alex pulled an apple out of their treasure bag and took bite. He glanced around too, chewing and swallowing before replying. It was a beautiful place, especially if you liked water. There were even bits of rock that almost looked like crystal in one or two places. He finished the snack and got to his feet, deciding where to go next.

"Alex… what do you think of the guild?" Eve asked, in a rather shy tone. She mumbled something else but Alex couldn't hear her because she spoke too softly. Considering her question, Alex reflected on the guild and its members he had gotten acquainted with.

He had encountered Dugtrio once. The group of moles had regarded them with enough respect, but Dugtrio seemed… odd in a way. Perhaps it had been the fact that Diglett was supposed to be their son…

Alex shook his head, discarding this line of thought…

His thoughts wandered over to Chimecho, the guild-member who did only a few things that Alex had seen. Chimecho was a colorful pokemon, being a sort of blend of turquoise and magenta in color and looked like a wind-chime. She was psychic-type, which explained to Alex how she floated through the air like a ghost, her long, flat tail waving in any breeze.

Chimecho was a bright personality and reminded Alex of his own partner is a few ways. She had been a little shy around Alex in fact but had warmed up to him rather fast. Perhaps too fast as at once point, she had gotten up in his face in a fit of cheerfulness and startled him. He accidentally shocked her. Alex still remembered how he had apologized over and over and Loudred had come by to check what was with the noise. To the former-human's embarrassment, Loudred got the mistaken impression he had done worse than what had happened.

It had been ten minutes before Alex's ears recovered from that incident and afterwards, Loudred had told him off for getting him worked up like that. Chimecho then apologized for getting him into trouble once Loudred left. Alex took it all in good humor though, he was used to Loudred by then and besides that, he knew there wasn't much point getting angry with anyone over it. It would only spoil the enjoyable atmosphere of the guild.

Alex's mind finally wandered back to Eve's question: What did he think of the guild?

He chuckled. "I think it's a great place to train. The members are all colorful characters, in more ways than one."

His partner smiled in agreement with his statement, then Alex decided they needed to move on. Just in time as it happened, as a curious Psyduck came wandering up and decided it didn't like them trespassing.

o0o

They arrived at what appeared to be the bottom, where they were greeted by the sight of colorful gems embedded in the walls and the floor.

"Whoa…" Alex breathed.

"Wow…" Eve's eye were glittering with wonder. Their eyes came to rest on a particularly big gem that was mostly out of the ground, against the back wall. Stepping over the gems and going deep into the room, they approached the large gem.

"Awesome! We'll be famous if we manage to bring this back to the guild!" Eve said excitedly and got up on her hind-legs and started trying to pull it out of its spot. Alex looked around as she attempted this. It wasn't long before she backed up, breathing hard.

"Whew… that's stuck something good. How 'bout you try pulling it out Alex?"

Alex shrugged and stepped up to the metaphorical plate, flexed a moment, and got a firm grip on the gem before pulling with all the force he could muster. It amazed him when, despite being mostly out of the ground, the gem stubbornly refused to even budge.

_Geez, this is really _is_ stuck tight!_

After a moment, he backed off feeling like he had just tried to pull his arms out of their sockets rather than the gem out of the wall and shook his head.

"That gem's not movin'." He breathed. Eve looked discouraged at first but her ears stiffen as she refused to give up and Alex moved out of the way as she stepped up again to try again. Then Alex felt that dizziness strike again.

_What now?_

He might've groaned but the flash halted it before he could.

He saw the chamber they were in right now. The shadowy, oval-shaped figure came wandering in and looked around. Alex noticed the long, rabbit-like ears of the darkened figure. Then the figure tripped and stumbled into the gem in the back. The gem shifted in its place as they put their weight against it. Then the ground started shaking and the figure looked around before panicking as a wave of water came rushing through the chamber!

The vision ended abruptly and Alex swallowed as his mind straightened itself out again.

Meanwhile, Eve backed away from the gem yet again, groaning over her failed efforts to move it.

"Ergh… it just _won't_ come out… maybe if I try rocking it out…"

Alex opened his mouth to tell her to stop but- too late. She pushed on the gem and it shifted back like a switch. Alex heard a loud noise to their right, and his mind knew what it was… his stomach felt like it bottomed-out.

"What was that noise?" the blissfully ignorant Eevee murmured, looking around. Alex looked as he felt a rush of air come blowing in from the right.

He started backing away from that direction.

Then the wave rounded a corner and came charging at them.

"RUN!" Alex screamed and tried fleeing for the exit, a terrified Eve stumbling after him.

The wave hit them in the middle of the room though and they were swept off their feet down the tunnel!

o0o

After an unknown length of time filled with confusion and being tumbled around in a wet carousel of chaos, the water shot both of them straight up into air. They were greeted by daylight and bounced on the water before the pressure died down below them, making the tower of water they were on fall away. They both screamed as they fell several feet to earth below. They landed with a loud splash!

Alex regained his sense a little later, feeling very warm but drenched. He could feel he was floating in water.

"Hey, are you two okay?" someone spoke not too far from him. Alex glanced around, there was steam rising from rocks and the water they were floating in was murky but rather comfortable.

"You both dropped out of the sky and startled everyone." The same voice commented.

Alex sat up in the water and he sunk in until his feet touched bottom, the water going up to about his waist. The pokemon speaking was a little bear pokemon from town Alex had met once, named Teddiursa. There were various other pokemon in and around the pool of water they were in, some who looked like monkeys looked about ready to attack him out of anger, most of the others though looked, indeed startled and some were dripping water, having jumped or hurriedly climbed out when they had come crashing down into the pool.

Eve walked over to a rock, keeping her head above water until she could put two feet up on the rocks, before asking in an exhausted tone:

"Where are we?"

A turtle-like pokemon with red skin and a black shell standing on the rocks came walking up, his shell spouting white smoke every few seconds.

"This is the Hot Spring my young friends. I am Torkoal." The pokemon said in an old, yet earnest tone. Eve raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have a map? Could you open it for me?" Torkoal asked. Eve found their Treasure Bag which had fallen on the ground outside the Spring, and found the map inside, mercifully dry and they spread it out on the rocks before the old pokemon. The turtle then put a foot on a point on the map:

"We are here. This is the Hot Spring. Pokemon come here all the time to relax and unwind." Torkoal explained. Eve and Alex both looked at the point, which was quite a ways to the right of the town and the waterfall they had just been at.

"Whoa! That wave carried us all the way over _here _from the waterfall?" Eve blinked, astonished. Torkoal blinked as well.

"The water carried you all the way here? My my… you two have had a rough trip haven't you? Please, rest here and enjoy yourselves." Torkoal said, offering the invitation cheerfully.

Eve seemed to notice for the first time the relaxing atmosphere of the Hot Spring and she relaxed.

"Yeah… that's sounds good. Let's take our time before heading back, okay Alex?"

Alex was already settling back on a rock in the water.

"Don't need to ask me twice." Alex sighed, taking in the relaxing air himself. The other pokemon at the Hot Spring settled back in too and soon, everyone was back to enjoying themselves.

o0o

After they finally had had enough of the Hot Spring for one day, they headed back and Chatot greeted their return. Eve related with great gusto what they had gone through.

"A shame we couldn't bring back that big gem…" She mumbled with a sad smile. Chatot jumped on it right away.

"My word! No, no, no! This is wondrous news!" Eve looked up, confused as Chatot babbled hurriedly "You two discovered a cave behind that waterfall! No one knew about that! It's a tremendous discovery!"

Eve caught what he was getting at and started cheer about it. Alex though… he was lost in his own thoughts…

_No one? What about that figure I saw? And… haven't I seen that shape before?_

Alex thought of the oval-shaped figure with the long ears… _That's got to be it…_

"No." He said, cutting Chatot short in his excited chattering about telling the Guildmaster. "I think the Guildmaster already knows about it… because he was there before."

Chatot jumped, feathers flying free in his flustered state. Eve was gaping in mild shock.

"No! That couldn't be! If that were the case, he would've told me!" the bird squawked.

Alex held firm though.

"Ask him then. I don't want to be claiming a discovery someone else has already made. It would be wrong."

Chatot frowned, disappointment clear but submitted to doing so (mumbling something Alex didn't catch) and told them to wait while he asked the Guildmaster.

A minute later, Chatot came back out of the Guildmaster's chamber.

"So, what did the Guildmaster say?" Eve asked, curiosity etching her tones.

Chatot thought over what he had been told before explaining:

"Well, he yelled out 'YOOM-TAH!'" Chatot started, flapping his wings out to punctuate the words, which startled Alex and his partner "Then he danced around a bit… then he said 'Yes, yes, when I think about it, I might've gone there once or twice.'." Chatot finished.

Alex stared… bit a stunned by Chatot's acting.

"In short," Chatot said "It's just as Alex suspected: he has already visited the cave in the past."

Eve seemed to shrivel a bit before murmuring,

"Oh… I kind of wish he could've said that sooner…" Alex felt a twang of guilt about spoiling Eve's mood.

Chatot sighed.

"Yes well… the Guildmaster can be a bit… odd at times. Even I can fathom what goes on in his head." Alex quirked an eyebrow… "odd" seemed like a grave understatement from what little of the Guildmaster he had seen and what he had just experienced moments ago. For crying out loud, Wigglytuff was frequently asleep with his eyes wide-open during morning cheers! Then there was the fact that he tended to be dancing around at dinner bouncing an apple around on his head… Alex couldn't blame Chatot for not being able to figure the Guildmaster out.

"At any rate, we'll still be expecting just as much effort out of both of you tomorrow." Chatot said cheerily, which contrasted with Eve's mood.

o0o

Following dinner, Alex checked on Eve's mood as they settled down to sleep that night.

She seemed to have cheered up though there was still a trace of glumness to her mood.

"You're okay then? Sorry, about spoiling our… discovery." Alex said, noting her slight smile.

"It's alright…" she murmured "Besides, I don't think I've ever felt so brave. Fighting Drowzee had been one thing but… jumping into that waterfall… I don't think I could've done it without you there."

Alex blinked… a bit stunned. Eve giggled at his expression.

"I'm okay Alex, and today was really fun. But I'm tired now so let's get some sleep, okay?"

Alex shook himself a bit and settled down.

Then Eve sat up in bed.

"You know… it just occurred to me… those visions of yours…"

Alex looked up.

"You always seem to be touching something when they come." Eve said. Alex reflected on the past few days and realized she was right.

"And then when you had those visions of Drowzee. You saw a future event, right? But this time, you were seeing something that happened already, meaning the past." Alex hadn't realized this bit of insight until now.

_She's right… everything she just said… correct._

Eve smiled brightly "That's such a cool ability! It could be really useful for adventures!"

_Well, yeah… but there's the still the matter of control… if only I could have them when I want…_

Eve calmed and settled back down.

"Well… it's a little late to be getting so excited… but… I really glad I met you Alex."

"Thanks Eve…"

Both got comfortable and drifted off to sleep.


	10. Unwelcome Guests

_**This chapter doesn't have that much action in it but I tried to do what I could. This and the next chapter contain the events that will forever live in infamy in the game.**_

_**Nonetheless, since I'm following the game, I had to put it in. I hope you (my much-appreciated readers) enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 9: Unwelcome Guests

More days passed and Alex and Eve became rather well known within the guild. They were still new though and thus, word outside hadn't really gotten around. Alex was hoping they would be fixing that soon, and one evening, Chatot revealed something to them that Alex hoped would help with that goal.

The parrot visited them in their bedroom as they were getting ready to get some sleep and he informed them that the Guildmaster wish to have a word with them.

Obeying, they were soon standing before Wigglytuff again, who startled them with his sudden whirl like their first meeting, and cheerily launched right into his explanation for calling them.

"You two have been working very hard, yes, a lot, a lot! And that's why I'm informing you that we're planning on having the Guild go out on an expedition soon, and you two are on the list of candidates!" Eve looked suitably curious.

"An expedition?"

"Yes," Chatot started "an expedition is when the Guild as a whole goes out to explore a region or place that is noteworthy. Because it takes so many resources, we don't hold an expedition too often but when we do, everyone wants to go and we can only take a select few. We choose only those who have worked hard to go."

The implications sunk in at this point.

"Whoa, so we can join the Guild on this expedition?" Eve exclaimed, her usual excitement flooding her.

Wigglytuff nodded before explaining "We normally wouldn't consider rookies as candidates for an expedition but the two of you have been doing so very well... we're making an exception!"

"Woo-hoo! Let's do our best on this one, Alex!" Eve cheered.

"_Ahem!_" Chatot cut-in "You haven't been chosen _yet_ you two. If you fail to do good work between now and when we go, you can't expect to be chosen." Chatot warned sternly. Eve calmed down and addressed Alex again.

"Right, well then let's work our hardest then to get chosen and do our best then. That sound good?"

"Yeah!" Alex said, and they clapped paws together, making a silent promise between them to make it happen.

o0o

The next morning, following cheers, Chatot made the announcement concerning the expedition to the Guild at large before dismissal.

"Oh my gosh! I can't wait! I'm _so_ hoping I get chosen!" Sunflora was blabbering as they headed out.

"There's no WAY I'm NOT getting CHOSEN." Loudred declared.

"Oof… I'm hoping to get to go, I haven't gotten to go on one yet…" Bidoof was mumbling.

Eve giggled as she could hear and feel the determination flowing around all of them like electricity.

As they emerged into the second floor of the guild where the boards were, Eve turned to Alex.

"Alright, let's start off by getting as many jobs as possible and getting them _all_ done, then we'll _have to_ get picked for the expedition!"

Alex scratched his head uncertainly as Eve turned and started for the boards.

_Sure… doing all those jobs would probably do the trick… but _can_ we do them all?_

"Hey… haven't we seen those two before?" Eve's question barged in on Alex's thoughts.

Alex looked up and noticed a purple orb and a bat looking over the boards.

_Wait… those pokemon..._

The two noticed Alex and Eve at this point and turned.

"What the-?"

"You two?" the bat exclaimed. Realization dawned on Eve.

"You! You're the pair of thieves that stole my personal treasure! What the heck are you two doing here?" she exclaimed. Alex had to wonder about who Diglett and Loudred went allowing into the Guild… then again, these two didn't exactly have feet…

"Whoa-ho-ho! What's so suspicious about an exploration team looking for jobs?" Koffing retorted.

"What?" Both Alex and his partner burst out yelling.

"I'll have you know we _are_ a certified exploration team." Zubat sniffed.

"Though I'll admit we don't exactly always run… by the book." Koffing said, with a sidelong glance.

"Now, you two though, _you're_ the ones who are questionable. What are _you_ doing here?" Zubat said in an accusatory tone.

"We joined the Guild as an exploration team ourselves." Eve explained somewhat shyly.

Koffing and Zubat exchanged incredulous looks. Then they stepped forward on either side of Eve and muttered.

"Alright, come over here a sec." Alex started to follow them as they lead Eve off to a corner and bumped her into it to talk. He stopped as they began to talk. He overheard what they were saying because, once again, his ears unconsciously directed themselves at them.

"Are you kidding me, kid? You're _way_ too shy to be an explorer." Koffing hissed.

"Yeah, you scare too easily." Zubat said.

"What?" Eve said.

"I'm wondering where you got up the nerve to even _start_ an exploration team much less join a Guild." Koffing continued.

Eve shook her head defiantly, stomped past both of them, and turned again so Alex was behind her.

"Listen! Alex and I are an exploration team now, for better or worse! And now we're trying to prove ourselves so we can join the guild on an expedition."

Koffing's eye glittered with a certain feeling that uneased Alex.

"Whoa-ho! That's ambitious, I'll give you that," the gas-ball started

"But you're not going anywhere without talent! Pure _talent_." Zubat quipped after his partner.

Even though he couldn't see her face, Alex could tell Eve was angry from her tone.

"You're one to talk!" she spat, stomping with one foot "You speak of talent but the two of us stomped you before we even became an exploration team!"

Koffing smirked.

"Yeah… well we didn't have Chief Skuntank with us then."

"Chief?" Eve's temper smoldered with some worry.

"Oh yeah, our Chief has _lots_ of talent." Zubat chuckled.

"To put it bluntly: he's brutally tough." Koffing expounded.

"He'd pound the two of you flat, no problem."

"Oh, speaking of whom, smells like he's comin'." Koffing said, perking up.

"Smell?"

Then a loud voice to Alex's right spoke almost directly in his ear.

"Hey! Move it, _wimp!_ You're in my way!"

Alex turned to look in surprise, at a very large pokemon that looked like an over-sized skunk, glaring at him.

Then Alex got slammed in the face by a stream of very foul-smelling gas, which knocked him backwards and left him gagging and teary-eyed on the floor.

He barely caught the rest of the conversation, being too busy trying to clear out his nose as he heard other Guild members in the room complain about the smell of rotten cheese and other things.

"Move it, pipsqueak! Or do you wanna join your buddy on the floor?" the skunk growled, evidently at Eve, who whimpered and (though Alex didn't see it) moved out of the way.

"Chief!" Koffing and Zubat greeted him with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, yeah, you two pick up any good jobs?" the Skuntank said gruffly.

"No, but we did get this juicy bit of gossip…"

They spoke in whispers next and their chief sounded intrigued.

They left the Guild, Koffing yelling over at the other side room: "What are you all lookin' at?" The others hastily turned away.

After the bullies had left, Eve walked over to Alex.

"Are you okay, Alex…?"

Alex wiped his eyes and rubbed his nose one last time, trying to clear out of the stench.

"Yeah… just a bit of bruise to my pride…" he sniffed "and maybe my hygiene…"

"After what he did to you… I just couldn't bring myself to challenge him to his face…" Eve whimpered "I'm such a coward…"

"Yeah? Well, at least _you_ don't stink of decades of rotted fruit…" Alex grumbled, wiping his nose some more. A faint smile traced Eve's face but soon faded.

"Doesn't change the fact I'm a wimp…" She shook herself though "But what else is new? We might as well just move on and get to work!"

Alex managed a smile and finally seemed to get the smell out of his nose, they then proceeded to loot the boards and go off to prove themselves worthy for the expedition.

o0o

They revisited dungeons they had already gone through. Mt. Bristle proved easier for Alex on a second run-through than originally. The Starly seen up in the mountains were already little match for Alex and his improved speed.

Additionally, Eve was definitely stronger, something that Alex thought proved that she certainly wasn't a wimp. Even the Geodude on the mountain went down fast.

_We really have gotten stronger… I think we can make the expedition_ Alex thought.

o0o

The next day held a rather rude surprise for them.

"Today," Chatot announced "I'll like to introduce an exploration team who will be joining us for the expedition."

A wave of curious murmurs swept through the group of apprentices.

"Wonder who it is?"

"More apprentices?"

Then a foul smell that was terribly familiar to Alex floated into the room.

"Pee-YOOO! What the HECK is that SMELL?" Loudred complained.

"Eeeeww! It's smells like stinky cheese!"

Then the last group of pokemon Alex wanted to see coming, came down the ladder and stood next to Chatot.

"I'd like to introduce these three, who will be assisting us during the expedition." Chatot announced.

_WHAT? Has Chatot gone _INSANE_!_

Eve also was utterly shocked and couldn't withhold a loud "What?"

Skuntank chuckled and introduced him and his two cronies as Team Skull. "Remember it." He ended and glanced directly at Alex and Eve "Especially you two."

Chatot blinked

"Oh? You know each other already? That's good to know." Chatot smiled pleasantly and then resumed his announcements.

"Since we'll be traveling together in the upcoming expedition, I have agreed to let this team spend the next few days with us so we can all get to know each other better."

_Oh for the love of Arceus…_ Alex mentally groaned, not really knowing where the name in mind had come from _Please… _PLEASE_ let this be a bad dream… please!_

Again, Eve let out an incredulous "What?" as the shock piled up.

"Is there something wrong?" Chatot asked in a way that struck Alex as perfectly ignorant.

"Don't worry about that one sir," Skuntank said "She overreacts to the slightest things."

Alex wanted to scream right then and try frying some sense into Chatot as the bird took the words at face value and plowed on with business.

"Doesn't Chatot think something STINKS about this… literally?" Loudred muttered rather quietly.

When it came time for the usual cheer "Hurray!" in the morning… the response wasn't as enthusiastic as usual. Alex could easily understand why… Chatot (to Alex's ever-building incredulity) apparently couldn't though.

"Where your usual enthusiasm apprentices?" he asked, concern in his voice. Loudred loudly voiced what Alex was thinking:

"Are you KIDDING? Can't you SEE what's WRONG here?"

He would've continued, but an earthquake interrupted him and they looked around.

"No… no!" Chatot cried out, genuine fear in his voice "The Guildmaster…!"

All eyes turned and looked at Wigglytuff, who was crouched down, looking very unhappy and mumbling something that Alex couldn't hear over the growing roar.

"The Guildmaster's rage is building!" Chatot squawked. A wave of deep worry swept through everyone in the room.

"Everyone! Cheer happily! Even if it hurts!" Chatot cried over the earthquake and prompted the dismissal cheer from them again. It indeed felt like it hurt but they cheered, with a definitely forced amount of enthusiasm. The earthquake promptly halted and morning cheers ended… the guild was dismissed to commence the usual routine… Eve looked at Alex, sharing the same incredulous look.

"What is Chatot and the Guildmaster thinking? Allowing those three in?"

Alex shook his head; words couldn't do his thoughts justice. Things were only going to get worse…


	11. The Perfect Apples Incident

_**If you've played the game before, this is the part that probably made you hate Chatot with a passion.**_

_**It's a long chapter but I did what I could.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 10: The Perfect Apples Incident

Alex and his partner worked through that day, trying to figure out how Team Skull had managed to convince Chatot they were reliable on such short notice.

As a result, they ended up distracted from their work.

It started with picking jobs from the boards. The visitors were standing near the regular job board, looking friendly but still strangely menacing. All the other guild members had notably set themselves completely across the room near the outlaw board, trying to put distance between themselves and the stench coming from Skuntank. They might have just outright left the guide to escape the smell but they needed to pick up jobs.

Alex and Eve managed to brave getting close to the group and picked out regular jobs but Eve ended up only picking a few and when Alex checked, he saw most of the jobs were in different locations. They wouldn't have the time to handle all of them in one day.

They picked a set of jobs at the Waterfall Cave and, after saving their money and items in town, they set out. The air seemed to smell fresher as they left town, which was a relief to both of them.

o0o

They returned from the cave that evening, battered and in poor shape. They had run into trouble with several wooper in the cave and Alex had been knocked out. Eve had fled when he had been defeated.

They had lost several items though Alex was grateful that they had stored their more valuable pieces before they had gone in. Their money had also been stored so they came back with half the money they had picked up in the cave, the other half having disappeared upon Alex's defeat.

Nonetheless, they had completed one of two jobs they had picked up and their client for that job met them back at the guild, and they were given their reward.

"C'mon, we can still make the expedition. We just need to keep at it." Alex said afterwards to a depressed Eve. Yes, it had been hard on them, especially when they were under pressure like this but Alex knew they shouldn't give up over one defeat.

The two of them went to sleep following dinner, confident they would make the next day count.

o0o

The next morning, after the guild was dismissed for work, Chatot called them over.

"I have a special task for the two of you today. I'm going to send the two of you to replenish the larder."

"Oh? So we're going to go looking for food?" Eve said, making sure she understood.

"Yes. I was checking early this morning and the Guild's stock of food has dropped sharply all of a sudden. Furthermore, we're completely out of Perfect Apples." Chatot explained "I can't figure out why…"

Alex raised an eyebrow… he had no proof of anything but he doubted that the events of today and yesterday weren't connected somehow. Eve then raised another question:

"Perfect Apples?"

Chatot seemed to grow visibly nervous at this point as he continued.

"Yes. Perfect Apples are exceptionally large and very delicious apples. But most importantly, they're the Guildmaster's favorite food. Which is why I want you two to go to Apple Woods to collect some. They should be in the deepest parts of the Woods."

Eve took a moment to go over the information in her head before nodding.  
>"Alright, we can do that." Alex nodded in agreement. Chatot seemed to calm down a bit but said with a still-forced amount of calm:<p>

"Good. But let me warn you: this is not just any job. This is vital. If the Guildmaster is deprived of his Perfect Apples he'll… he'll…" Chatot, who was shaking now, trailed off so that neither of them could hear him at all, all Alex caught was a choked "-erk!"

"What? What will the Guildmaster do?" Eve said, confused.

Chatot took a breath and repeated:

"The Guildmaster will… Yes, he will do _that_… _that_ will happen." Again, Chatot's voice seemed to refuse to speak loud enough for them to hear what he was trying to tell them.

Alex and Eve exchanged glances and shrugged, unable to catch what he was trying to say. Chatot didn't notice but continued:

"Which is why I am _begging_ both of you: _please_ do not fail." Chatot said with a definite, pleading look in his eyes.

"It's going to drive me crazy not knowing what exactly will happen but… okay we'll do it. You can count on us." Eve said confidently.

And so they headed off to Apple Woods, determined to prove they could get the job done.

o0o

They arrived at Apple Woods, the trees dense but allowing plenty of light into the forest. The air was thick with the scent of the fruit the Woods were named for. Alex found himself feeling fairly comfortable in the fresh, sweet air of the Woods. His partner turned to him as they came to the entrance.

"Alright, let's make up for yesterday and do this job extra well, Alex." They nodded firmly to one another and marched in with their determination. They didn't notice the figures tailing them, which followed them into the woods.

The forest proved to be thick with not only apples, but also bug and grass-type pokemon. Many of the bug types had wings, which made Alex's job slightly easier since he could simply fry the flying insects. The grass-types though, proved to be consistently annoying. Rock-types like at Mt. Bristle had been tough and didn't go down easily, but Alex found himself preferring this to the frequent times he was getting poisoned, sprayed with acid, and peppered with paralysis-inducing powders from the oddish and gloom infesting the forest ground. Oddish looked like radishes with a face and legs, while the evolved counterpart: gloom had grown a flower bud and arms. Futhermore, they were resistant to his electrical attacks. He frequently left these fights to Eve, who tackled them and sometimes threw an amount of dust in their eyes before taking them down.

On the other hand, Alex found he wasn't getting hungry at all, which wasn't surprising since he was picking fallen apples up off the ground at regular intervals.

At one point, they found themselves confronting a swarm of very annoyed beedrill, large bee-like pokemon with stingers on their forelegs as well as on their abdomen. Alex and Eve backed away into a narrow pathway and Alex used this to his advantage to fry the bees one at a time, as they couldn't get at the two of them all at once. One evaded his electricity and charged in, stinging him with its stingers repeatedly. In the attack, sparks of electricity flew loose from Alex and the beedrill was electrocuted enough that it became paralyzed. Alex swiftly acted to take down the bug-type before it could recover. He switched places on the path with Eve as more Beedrill closed in and ate an Oran Berry to recover his strength. He darted forward from behind her as she tackled another beedrill coming at them and their combined attack knocked the bug from the air. They finally were alone again, though Alex was breathing hard after the long fight.

"Nice job, to both of us… right?" Eve panted. Alex nodded his confidence building again.

"Let's finish this, I think we're almost there."

o0o

They finally arrived at a clearing where a very large tree stood. The apples were very visible even from several dozen feet away.

"Those are probably the Perfect Apples." Eve said as they approached the tree "We made it."

The apples were indeed, very large and they looked particularly juicy.

"Chaw-haw-haw! What took you two so long? We've been waitin' for a while now!"

Alex and Eve looked up at the tree again and saw the last three pokemon they had expected to see at this point lazing about in the tree: Team Skull.

Koffing ate one of the apples and then spoke up over a mouthful of pulp.

"What took you, wimpy? We've been havin' ourselves a feast here!" he then let loose with a loud belch.

Skuntank then jumped down from the tree and Alex and his partner leapt back to avoid getting landed-on. Zubat and Koffing followed their leader down.

"What the heck are you three doing here?" Eve yelled incredulously. Alex meanwhile scanned the tree… there were only a few apples actually left… but if they could collect them, Alex was sure that would be enough for Chatot (and the Guildmaster) to be happy.

"We followed you here. Thought we'd help out a bit…" Skuntank said with a smirk that definitely said otherwise. Eve bristled and Alex sparked… both were ready to clobber the trio before them.

Then to their surprise, Skuntank turned, and walked around to the side of the tree and rammed it a couple of times. The impacts were enough to shake the remaining apples on the tree, which fell to the ground around Zubat and Koffing. He rejoined his comrades in front of Alex and his partner.

"There." Skuntank said in friendly tones "Go on now, pick them all up and go deliver them."

Eve didn't move, glaring at them. Team Skull raised a few eyebrows when they didn't act. Eve finally spoke.

"You're going to pull something on us if we do, aren't you?" she growled in an accusatory tone of voice.

Zubat and Koffing's smiles faded and then they turned to each other.

"Aww… they didn't fall for it… that's no fun." Koffing grumbled.

"I knew it!" Eve said angrily. Skuntank in front of them shrugged.

"Eh… so what? What are you gonna do then?" he said in a derisive tone.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do: we're going to knock the lot of you out and take those apples back to the guild!" Eve declared fiercely. Alex had to admit he was impressed by her bravado.

"Chaw-haw-haw! Someone's taken a few 'brave' pills since yesterday." Skuntank laughed "I still seem to recall you were shaking like a leaf when we first met."

Eve didn't falter.

"True. But so long as I'm with Alex, I'm not giving up! I don't care what you do, I'll fight to the end!"

Skuntank laughed some more.

"Impressive speech. In recognition of your bravery, me and Koffing will take you on fair and square." Skuntank said in an arrogant tone, Koffing joining him at his side.

Eve tensed.

"Watch it Alex, they're going to do something…" she murmured.

Alex got ready to fight.

"Take this! Me and Koffing's NOXIOUS GAS COMBO!"

The twosome fired a cloud of fumes at both of them and both apprentices were overwhelmed by the stench with a yell. The smell overpowered them and they passed out.

They woke up a minute or two later and Zubat woke up with them.

"Ack! They left me behind!" the bat shrieked and flew off after his partners.

"Whew…" Eve said, setting a paw over her nose "They got both of us."

Alex looked around the clearing… there wasn't a Perfect Apple in sight…

"They took all the apples…" Alex groaned…

They took a few minutes to double-check the tree, even climbing up into the tree. But the only apples left weren't ripe enough for harvest. They couldn't do anything to fix this mess…

"I guess we're just going to have report to Chatot…" Alex said sadly.

o0o

Back at the guild, the parrot didn't take the news very well.

"What? You failed to collect even _one single_ apple?" he exclaimed and immediately flew into a frenzied panic.

"Well, it was Team Skull-" Eve started.

"SILENCE!" Chatot snapped harshly and Team Long Ears cringed "I don't want to hear _any_ excuses from either of you!" he then moaned "You've saddled me with this horrible task… I'm going to have to report this to the Guildmaster…" then dread crossed his face "Oh no! Noooo! The Guildmaster!" he flew around some more, panicking. He then turned a very cross face to both of them.

"As punishment, you both will be going without dinner tonight!"  
>"What?" They both exclaimed<p>

_This is NOT our fault!_ Alex thought.

"Quiet! You will also accompany me when I go to report this. If I had to face the Guildmaster's wrath all by myself… well, that would hardly be fair!"

_Like this is any more fair?_

Alex opened his mouth to argue but Chatot's glare made him shut it again in a hurry.

"Be grateful your punishment isn't _much_ more severe! _DISMISSED_!"

o0o

That evening, after glumly watching everyone else dig into dinner, Chatot curtly lead them to the Guildmaster's chamber. Alex felt like a lead weight was weighting him down inside.

Wigglytuff whirled on them as before, but he had a smile on his face as usual.

"Hiya! Did you bring me a Perfect Apple? Thank you!" he said in a very expectant tone. Chatot nervously spoke up.

"Um, my apologies Guildmaster, but these two failed in their task to bring back any Perfect Apples from Apple Woods." He explained.

Wigglytuff didn't seem to understand as he smiled some more and told the two apprentices:

"Oh, that's alright, everyone fails every now and then!" he then half-sang "Don't feel blue! Don't feel blue!"

Wigglytuff then turned to Chatot again.

"Where are the other Perfect Apples?"

Alex wanted to cover his eyes… he could tell this conversation was going downhill fast. Eve looked nervous and ready to be yelled at some more. Chatot cleared his throat.

"As I was saying Guildmaster, these two failed in their task to get any Perfect Apples so the number of Perfect Apples harvested is… um, zero…" Chatot trailed off, sounding very shy as well as nervous now.

This seemed to get the message across to Wigglytuff who mumbled "Oh…"

Chatot though, in his nervousness, blabbered on.

"Which means Guildmaster, you will… just have to go without Perfect Apples for a little while longer…"

Chatot then broke out in nervous laughter.

_The situation is making him go insane…_ Alex thought in disbelief.

Then he heard a sniffle and, looking for the source, found himself looking at the Guildmaster.

_Whoa! He's going to cry?_

Chatot snapped himself out his laughing and stared in dread at the Guildmaster. "Guildmaster?"

Wigglytuff's crying quickly started building up into a wail that increased in pitch.

"Oh no! Quick! _Cover your ears!_" Chatot screamed over the noise. Alex and his partner lost no time obeying and clapped their paws over both ears. Chatot covered his head with both wings. Wigglytuff's wails were still too loud! The room started shaking and things looked ready to explode!

"Hello! We've brought you a Perfect Apple!" someone called.

Wigglytuff's crying abruptly stopped, as did the quake.

Alex, Eve, and Chatot all looked up from covering their ears.

"Huh?"

Then two pokemon pushed Alex and Eve aside and Skuntank came walking up and set a Perfect Apple before the Guildmaster.

It was Team Skull.

"I thought we'd show a token of our friendship to the good Guildmaster we will be accompanying on the expedition." Skuntank said gracefully. Wigglytuff looked as if Christmas had come early with extra presents.

"For me? Yay! Thank you!" Chatot also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you! Thank you, you've helped us avert a disaster." The parrot then turned to Alex and Eve "Well! Show them your gratitude!"

To Alex, it was like someone was smothering the wounds from the events at the Woods with copious amounts of salt. He and his partner turned to Team Skull and nodded stiffly, they couldn't manage to even fake a smile for them. Skuntank smiled in a way that made Alex want to fry him to death as the pokemon addressed both Chatot and Wigglytuff.

"We hope we can all get along on this expedition and come out successful." Chatot ate the words right up.

"You three are truly an inspiring example." Alex was feeling sick from all this…

"No, no," Skuntank continued "_You_ are the ones who inspire us. We'll be around."

Team Skull finally turned and left, Wigglytuff saying cheery good-byes as they went.

Alex and Eve were finally allowed to go to bed.

o0o

After several moments of fuming on his bed, Alex turned over to go to sleep, ignoring his grumbling stomach. Eve sighed…

"Well, Team Skull showed us up again… oh well… we'll just have to try again tomorrow. Good night Alex…"

They both dropped off into a somewhat fitful sleep.

o0o

The next morning, they got up and managed to show a good attitude during the cheers. But what was almost the final straw for Alex, was when Chatot called them over, with a grave expression on his face.

"As usual, I want you two to do jobs from the board…" he said calmly "However, after last night… I doubt either of you are going to be going on the expedition."

Alex and Eve didn't have the energy to do anything more than stare in disbelief. Chatot sighed before continuing.

"I know the Guildmaster can seem odd and cheerful all the time… but even so, I have little doubt inside he's boiling with rage over being deprived of his Perfect Apples like that. So I'm just warning you now: when it comes time to choose who's going on the expedition, don't get your hopes up." Chatot then turned away and that was that.

Eve groaned.

"I was already weak with hunger…" she said, her stomach sounding to reinforce the statement "But after that talk… how does he expect me to be motivated to work now?" she complained.

Alex hung his head, feeling just as down…

_We've come all this way and now we're not going, all because of something that wasn't our fault!_

"_Pssst! Hey!"_ someone whispered off to their left, trying to get their attention. Alex looked up and saw Bidoof, Sunflora, and Chimecho, glancing around like they were trying to avoid being seen.

"_Over here!"_ Bidoof whispered as quietly as possible while still being heard.

"What is it?" Alex called over.

The three rushed over to them.

"_Not so loud, by golly!_" Bidoof hissed "_Come on, over here!_" he said and they were lead back into the their bedroom.

Once inside, Bidoof looked back.

"Alright, I don't think anyone saw us, 'cept maybe Croagunk…" Eve was curious what was with the secretive attitude.

"What's this all about?" she said.

"Here." Sunflora said and both her and Chimecho pulled out and set apples on the ground before them.

Alex and his partner both blinked.

"You must be hungry…" Sunflora said "We saw you standing there last night and were wondering what had happened. Then we heard about your punishment. We all agreed to saved a bit of our dinners last night when we saw you standing there."

Alex glanced away.

"I didn't believe that was your fault for a minute." Sunflora said curtly.

Both of them looked at Sunflora, astonished. Alex's ear swung down to hang in front of his face.

"You're a good team, I can tell. Now eat up!"

Alex already felt energy flooding him again.

"Thank you…" he murmured, still amazed, and then ate, Eve following suit.

They soon finished, feeling considerably better than they had minutes ago.

Chimecho smiled.

"Everyone can use a pick-me-up when they're feeling down." She said cheerfully.

Eve was smiling but it faded as Chatot's words came back to her.

"Yes… well, I don't think we'll be going on the expedition though… Chatot just told us…"

"That doesn't mean you should just give up though! You never know what will happen!" Sunflora said.

Eve looked up, hope returning to her.

"But… even if we get chosen, doesn't that mean you might not get to go? Would you be okay with that?"

"No, it would be disappointing…" Sunflora admitted "But if someone goes, then someone else won't be able to, that's just how it works!" she said, the smile on her face not fading at all.

Eve's smile returned.

"Thank you…"

Alex nodded in agreement, pushing his ear out of his face.

"Alright then…" he said, turning to his partner "Maybe we won't be going… but we're still going to give it our all, right Eve?"

Eve nodded, her face hardening with determination once again.

"Right!" They high-fived between the two of them. They weren't giving up. Not so long as they were side-by-side.


	12. A Pleasant Surprise

_**Here's a funny chapter. Not that much action here but I think it should still be good.**_

_**Enjoy! ^_^**_

PMD2: A Novelization

Chapter 11: A Pleasant Surprise

Alex and his partner allowed Bidoof, Sunflora and Chimecho to vacate their room, and after waiting a moment to avoid looking too strange coming out all at once, they headed out.

Croagunk got their attention almost as soon as they left, to Alex's surprise.

"Hey, you two! Over here."

Curious, they stepped over to Croagunk who was in his shop.

"What are all doing sneakin' around like that, eh?" He said, with a friendly chuckle. His face and his soft voice struck Alex as dodgy at first but he decided to give the pokemon the benefit of the doubt. Croagunk shrugged off his own question.

"Ah well, none of my business I suppose. That's not why I called you over here though." He said "I finally got my swap cauldron functioning right again. The Swap Shop is back in business!"

"Swap Shop?" Alex said, cocking his head.

"Meh-heh-heh, yeah you heard right. This is my Swap Shop. You bring me rare items, and for a little fee, I pop 'em into my Swap Cauldron and someone else sends back somethin' even rarer. Sounds like a good deal, yeah?" Croagunk explained, his voice maintained its calm level but he still seemed to be excited.

"Sounds interesting," Eve commented "We'll have to try it out sometime."

"Please do, I _love_ my business." Croagunk said with a nod.

Alex then headed out with his partner to do jobs for the day.

o0o

Eve seemed to have taken it upon herself to do everything she could to try and make the expedition despite Chatot's words to them that morning.

She was fighting more aggressively in battle, doing everything she could to support and help Alex when she couldn't assist in a fight directly, and she insisted on taking as many jobs as possible.

Her determination was the highest Alex had ever seen it and he was having a hard time keeping up with his partner's fiery mood. She was frequently the one in the lead as they explored.

_If only she was like this all the time…_ Alex couldn't help thinking as Eve proceeded to clobber an outlaw they were chasing down.

The outlaw in question was attempting to flee and wasn't getting very far as they had gotten too close to Alex, who had given them a gentle shock, paralyzing them like with Drowzee. From there, Eve's persistent flailing attacks (with Alex striking swiftly in between) caused the exasperated outlaw to surrender.

Back at the guild, Alex had to convince Eve to get some rest afterwards rather than immediately go to another dungeon for another job.

_We wouldn't finish before nightfall anyway._

She had argued with him on the point but in the end, she finally (grudgingly) agreed to limit herself to one dungeon a-day.

By the time they went to bed, Alex was breathing a sigh of relief that she had finally settled down to sleep.

o0o

The next day, it was evident that Chatot hadn't forgiven them yet for failing to bring back Perfect Apples previously. They were assigned to replace Diglett for sentry duty again.

Once again, Eve stepped up to the plate with her adamant will and Alex ended up just standing by, keeping an eye on things. There were one or two visitors that she had trouble identifying (to her aggravation) as the day went by, Alex helped the best he could though with his limited knowledge.

At the end of the day, Chatot was impressed by the results, as Eve seemed to be willing to fight an army or identify one by their footprint, whichever was demanded of her. She had identified every visitor almost immediately and correctly.

o0o

Following another long day of more hard work (with Eve blazing forward through it all), Alex was starting to wonder if they might actually make the expedition with how hard they'd been working at it.

That evening at dinner, before they began eating, Chatot had an announcement to make.

The Guildmaster had made his decision on who was going on the expedition. This immediately riled up everyone at the table into an excited frenzy of chatter and cheering. Once the excitement died down again, they had dinner and went to bed, many still jittering with nerves and excitement, not to mention anticipation.

"Ooh… I hope we get to go… I've been working so hard for this…" Eve mumbled, trying to settle down to sleep. Alex, who was lying so his back was to her, couldn't help smiling at this.

_Tell me about it._ He suppressed a chuckle. _I'm hoping we get to go too… those visions of mine… I get the feeling they'll be useful on this expedition if we do get to go._

He glanced over his shoulder at Eve, who was starting to drop off to sleep now.

_I really do hope we get to go... she's been working so hard for this... she'll be crushed if we don't get to go..._

Despite his racing heart, he finally got some sleep.

o0o

The following day, the guild was gathered as usual in front of the Guildmaster's chamber like for morning cheers. Team Skull was standing aside, watching events as they proceeded.

"Alright apprentices, today is the big day!" Chatot started "Today, we reveal who has been chosen for the expedition!" the parrot then turned to Wigglytuff "Guildmaster, the list if you please?" The Guildmaster was smiling brightly as he handed a small note to Chatot, who took the note and held it up for all to see.

"When your name is called, please step forward and stand up front!" Chatot called over them.

Alex swore every heart in the room began pumping about five times harder as Chatot took the note in both wings and got ready to read off the names.

"First is: _Loudred_!"

He Loudred let out a deafening whoop and stepped forward.

"YEAH! I got CHOSEN! But if you think about IT, THAT'S only NATURAL!" Loudred bragged.

This was followed by several rolling eyes and some grumbling over the boasting. Chatot waited for the noise to die down again before announcing the next name.

"Next: _Sunflora_!"

The grass-type jumped in excitement "EEK! Oh my _gosh_! I'm going! Yay!" she then joined Loudred up-front.

"Next!" Chatot continued, then blinked in some astonishment before announcing "Well, this is a surprise: _Bidoof_!"

"What? Me?" Bidoof squeaked but didn't move from his spot…

Chatot looked up from the note at the abashed apprentice.

"Well? Come on, step up Bidoof."

Bidoof swallowed and spoke in a very shaky voice.

"Oof! W-w-well, yes I want to s-step up… but it seems I'm a bit nervous… my legs won't move…" Bidoof managed to say.

Chatot sighed, shaking his head.

"Very well, we'll just move on with the list…" he said, turning his attention back to the paper in his wings.

Alex was nervous and he was getting more and more worried…

_It's sounding less and less like we're going to be joining…_

"Finally, we have _Chimecho _and _Corphish_!"

Alex's heart sank as the last two joined the rest up front. Eve's ears slowly fell as her hung her head. He noticed Team Skull quietly chuckling between themselves, giving them leering looks.

"That's all- wait a minute, there's something else here…" Chatot cut himself off and looked at the note again. He looked closer at the note, mumbling something. He winced (Alex guessed he said something that he shouldn't have), and then squinted at the note, even turning it sideways.

"Oh! There's more on here." The parrot announced. Eve's head popped back up again and Alex's heart jumped.

_Maybe we aren't out of it yet._

Chatot's eyes brighten and he announced.

"Ah! There's also Croagunk, Diglett, Dugtrio… oh and Alex and Eve too." He said putting the note down.

"That is all!"

Alex blinked as he looked over the group… a second later, Chatot realized what Alex was noticing.

"Wait a minute! WHAT?" the bird squawked and looked again. He then turned to Wigglytuff throwing the note into the air.

"Guildmaster! This list contains _every member of the guild_!" he said incredulously. Everyone blinked.

The Guildmaster smiled and nodded.

"Yep! I started writing down names but soon, I was getting so excited and wanted so many to go that I finally just listed them all!" Wigglytuff explained, jittering with excitement.

Chatot fluttered in-place, showing his flustered state.

"Then that would mean the whole selection process was meaningless! Furthermore, we'll be leaving the guild completely undefended!"

Wigglytuff continued smiling.

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine. We'll lock up properly before we go." Chatot stopped fluttering and stood there, flabbergasted.

Skuntank, who had looked surprised at this turn of events, stepped up.

"Guildmaster, I must say, I have some misgivings about this myself."

Wigglytuff raised an eyebrow and looked over at Skuntank

"When a friend tells me something like that, I have to wonder why they would say that…" the Guildmaster said, almost like a child who had been insulted by their friend.

"Well first off, why does everyone need to go?" Skuntank said, clearly trying to sound reasonable "I mean, what's the point of having _everyone_ participate?"

Wigglytuff hopped in place, once again making Alex think of a child, this time of one that knew the answer to a question and was excited to answer it.

"Well, of course there's a point!" Wigglytuff said cheerily "That is: If everyone goes, _it will be more fun!_"

Skuntank stumbled back, his mouth agape, lost for words. Alex found himself experiencing a certain pleasure from his reaction. The Guildmaster then turned to the Guild as a whole and announced:

"And that's how it's going to be_: We're all going and we're all going to have fun! Fun! Fun!_" he yelled out happily, his arms up.

The entire group of apprentices promptly responded to this with an almighty cheer: "**HURRAY!**"

Chatot sighed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head before mumbling: "Well, I guess that's that…" he then calmly announced "We'll head out in three hours! Those chosen ("meaning everyone" he muttered under his breath) should get ready to go and then meet back here. Dismissed!"

Alex felt like he might pass out from sheer relief. They were going… with the entire guild no less. Eve looked ready to faint herself.

"I can't believe it! We're actually going!" she gasped.

The other apprentices joined them. Loudred was happily laughing.

"Oh my gosh! The Guildmaster did it _again_!" Sunflora squealed.

"I certainly didn't see this coming…" Alex said, still trying to get over his shock.

"We're all going… I can hardly believe it!" Eve said, still short on breath.

"Oof… it's like a dream come true…" Bidoof whimpered, on the verge of tears with emotion.

"This is no dream. It is reality." Dugtrio said seriously "I propose we apprentices all work together to make this the best expedition ever, agreed?"

"Agreed…" Alex responded first. Everyone else joined in with likewise murmurs of "Agreed."

"Let's do this!" Eve cried.

"YEAH!"

And the guild moved out to get ready.


	13. Journey to Foggy Forest

_**I suppose this is where things are going to start getting real interesting. Relatively short chapter.**_

_**I thank all of you who have been keeping with my story here and I hope I've been keeping things interesting up to this point.**_

_**Enjoy. Read and Review. And most of all: Thank you.**_

PMD2: A Novelization

Chapter 12: The Journey to Foggy Forest

Alex and Eve spent the three hours of preparation for the Expedition going around town, checking and double checking their supplies, so that they wouldn't be missing anything went they left with the Guild.

The Kecleon brothers had apparently heard about the expedition, as had many of the pokemon residing around town. The two shop-owners were even so generous to give them a Special Band for free, as a good-luck present.

Many of the other pokemon in Treasure Town also wished them luck on the trip, few more so than Marill and Azurill, who were thrilled their heroes were going on such an adventure.

"Let's not disappoint them, okay Alex?" Eve said as they headed back to the Guild.

Alex smiled and nodded in response. He didn't plan to disappoint anyone except Team Skull.

o0o

"We will be setting out for Foggy Forest in search of Fogbound Lake." Chatot announced once the Guild was reassembled. He had out a wonder map and was pointing to a location far to the east of town and past a vast amount of terrain.

"As the name implies, the forest is covered by a perpetual fog and legend has it that there is a lake hidden somewhere within that forest… and at that lake is a treasure of utmost beauty! That is our objective for this expedition."

Murmurs swept through the guild members, wondering what the treasure could be.

"We will set out in separate groups to the lake, being that if we all went together as a whole, mobility would be severely hindered. I will now set forth the groups:"

Chatot turned to Wigglytuff first.

"The guildmaster and myself will be traveling together as a pair, I think that should be fine."

Wigglytuff frowned and Alex was reminded of a child again, one who had been assigned a chore they didn't like.

"Awwww!" the Guildmaster whined "I have to go with Chatot? Boooorrring!" and shook his head.

"Please, Guildmaster…" Chatot said with a note of desperation "This is for the best."

Wigglytuff didn't complain aloud further but continued to pout and mumble his complaints. Chatot ignored this and continued on, turning to the guest team.

"Team Skull will travel as their own group,"

"Understood." Skuntank said with a deep nod and a grin.

"Now for the apprentices, the first group is Loudred, Sunflora, and Dugtrio."

The three looked at each other, Loudred spoke up first.

"You better not slow me DOWN!"

"Speak for yourself!" Sunflora retorted… this prompted Alex to wonder about putting those two in the same group.

"Next is Diglett, Chimecho, Corphish and Croagunk."

Corphish turned to his companions.

"Alright, we're a pretty good group, hey hey."

"We can do this!" Chimecho cheered. Chatot then finished:

"And the last group is Alex, Eve, and Bidoof."

Bidoof glanced back at them.

"Oof… hope I don't slow the two of you down on this trip." He said nervously.

"Same here, Bidoof." Eve said cheerily. Alex just nodded.

"Right then," Chatot said "We're all set so let's move out apprentices!"

They responded with their loud cheer "Hurray!" and marched out.

o0o

Alex and his companions settled into a course that ran along the coast to the south. Eve took point and led the way forward. Then they were at a cave on seaside cliff… a statue was sitting to the left of the cave and the sea was on the right. They stopped and Eve pulled out the wonder map.

"Alright, we should be right here," Eve said, pointing to a spot approximately one-third of the way to their primary destination "This is Craggy Coast we're at right now."

"Hey, lookie there, there's a Kangaskhan Rock." Bidoof said, pointing at the statue. On closer inspection, Alex noticed it did indeed look much like the pokemon that ran the storage shop. Eve looked at it, curious.

"I understand you can trade out items at those rocks and they're good places to regroup when you rest. Very handy, yup yup." Bidoof rambled. Alex had to agree they did sound very useful. Then Bidoof looked away in a shy manner.

"Oof, well, there I go… running my mouth off on my first expedition… one of the first times I've seen 'em too…" he mumbled as if chastising himself.

"Hey, it's our first time too." Eve pointed out comfortingly. "That's good information to have Bidoof. I know we can do this." She continued as she put away the wonder map. The eevee then turned around and started planning out how to proceed.

_Eve's really been taking charge…_ Alex noted to himself.

_I suppose its just the excitement of the expedition and the last few days that's bringing it out… but she's really growing up into a strong explorer._

"Alright! Craggy Coast ahead. We can do this! Let's go!" Eve declared and Alex and Bidoof followed her in.

Alex found the Coast to be a place suited for his skills. As befitting such a location, they frequently came across water-types, swimming about in the seawater that was in the cave. The most common opponent they ran across were wingull, which were basically sea birds. They were little threat to any of them.

Bidoof proved to be somewhat slow but he was a durable explorer. Slow but steady described him best.

They also came across seel at one point, and as their name implied, they were aquatic seals. Alex was somewhat surprised when one of them blew a freezing cold gust of air at him. Alex's usual quickness was quickly lost as Alex lost himself in shivering and trying to warm up again. The seel then bounded forward and slammed its head into his body in a hard head-butt.

Alex ignored how chilly he was suddenly feeling for the moment and shocked the seel, knocking it out fast.

"A nice fire-type would be nice about now…" Alex mumbled, feeling like his teeth might start chattering as he rubbed his arms, willing them to be warm again.

"Let's just keep going Alex, you'll warm up as we move. We can't keep the guild waiting." Eve said rather bluntly. So the trio continued and Alex dealt with more water-types as they proceeded.

After a while, they couldn't hear the sea any more and the water started to thin out.

They proceeded further ahead and they were soon in a mountain range, a large peak awaiting them ahead.

"Alright," Eve said, pulling out the map again "I think we're somewhere around here…" she said waving her paw around the mountains a little ways to the northwest of their destination. They looked to be about two-thirds of the way there now…

"I think this here is Mt. Horn, yep yep." Bidoof commented then there was a growling noise "Whoops, that was my stomach there." He chuckled, abashed. Eve glanced at the sun, which was getting low in the sky now.

"Hmm… I think it will be night before we finish if we started climbing now, so how about we have dinner and rest up?" Eve said.

"Sounds good." Alex agreed.

"Let's eat! Yahoo!" Bidoof cheered.

o0o

The next day, all three of them got up and Bidoof eagerly stepped forward.

"Alright! Let's put this mountain behind us and rejoin the rest, yep yep!"

They proceed up the mountain.

Copious numbers of bug-types and birds awaited them as they climbed up the mountain. Queer-looking natu (small, green, ball-shaped birds) teleported away as they came. They frequently encountered beautifly and venomoth as they traveled. Neither were particularly challenging for Alex to electrocute and KO. They also encountered mushrooms as they climbed: parasect that looked like a mushroom crossed with a crab of some sort, and shroomish, which were little mushrooms with feet. Alex, finding these to be electricity-resistant grass-types, allowed Bidoof and Eve to handle these opponents.

As they neared the peak of the mountain, they came across yet another beautifly. The butterfly-like pokemon proved to be a severe annoyance when it suddenly unleashed a wave of glittering dust on the wind at them. The dust upset Alex's skin severely and it rather hurt, especially when it got in his eyes. What was worse, the dust seemed to empower the bug, which started moving faster and unleashed another wave of dust at them.

"Ow! What with that dust? It stings!" Eve cried.

"That's enough!" Alex yelled in frustration and pulled out a stun seed in the treasure bag and pitched it at the butterfly. The seed shot into its mouth and the bug found itself petrified and unable to move. Alex stomped up to it and violently fried the bug.

"Good riddance…" he groaned, distributing oran berries to the party.

Alex led the way as he dealt with more of the flying bugs. They finally reached the peak, where they all let out a sigh of relief. The hard part was pretty much over.

"You've really been a good help Bidoof." Alex commented. Bidoof blushed, mumbling to himself.

"This way should lead right to where the others are gathering. C'mon." Eve said and they headed down the mountain.

o0o

They soon arrived at a clearing before the forest, which was indeed, obscured by a thick cloud resting over it. The guild was already present and had set up tents in the clearing.

"Where have the three of you been?" Chatot immediately admonished them on-arrival "Everyone else arrived hours ago! Come along!" and off he went to lead them to the where the others were gathered for another meeting. Eve started forward and Bidoof hurried after Chatot but Alex froze as he looked around…

He could see himself… running through this forest… with some unknown figure…

_Have I been here before? Wait… I know this place!_

"Hey! Alex!" Eve shouted.

Alex jumped and looked at his partner standing in front of him, looking directly at him.

"What's the matter? You off daydreaming? C'mon, they're waiting for us!"

Alex shook his head, discarding his thoughts as Eve turned back around and started to join the others. He followed after her thinking:

_What am I thinking? I've never even been out this far before. How could I have been here before now?_


	14. Secret of the Fog

**_I think I'll be slowing down a bit from here on out. Writing this is taking up a bit too much of my thoughts every day._**

**_Besides that, taking some more time between chapters might allow me better time to think over the chapters and improve them._**

_**As usual though, please enjoy. I do this for my own entertainment and of those who read this.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 13: The Secret of the Fog

"Now that we're all here, I will now brief all of you on the forest that lies ahead." Chatot said as they gathered in the middle of the guild encampment.

"As you can all see, the fog around here is quite thick. It's pretty much impossible to see anything more than a few feet away."

Alex glanced deeper into the forest… his sight was indeed halted by a wall of cream-colored fog after only a few feet in.

"We will all travel separate and search the forest individually. If anyone finds anything that seems important, report back to camp and inform the Guildmaster or myself."

"Been good travelin' with ya, yup yup." Bidoof whispered. Alex and Eve silently nodded and quickly refocused their attention on Chatot.

"Given the circumstances, we have two objectives here: first and foremost being, of course to find the lake. But because of the fog, finding the lake could be impossible so long as it remains, therefore the second objective is to find some way to possibly lift the fog. Understood?"

Everyone voiced his or her approval and they broke camp and the apprentices started disappearing into the fog as they began exploration.

Chimecho approached them moments later though.

"I've heard a few things about Fogbound Lake." She said privately. "They're a little out-there though so I didn't think it was too important to mention it."

Alex and his partner's curiosity were aroused though and they asked about the stories.

"Well, I've heard stories about there being a legendary pokemon named Uxie who guards the lake. The stories say that those who go looking for the lake end up locking eyes with Uxie and he wipes their memory clean! Strange, isn't it?"

Chatot, who had actually noticed the conversation, politely stepped in.

"If I may put in a word, you three: stories like that are usually attached to places like these. Whether it is true or not, I wouldn't know but I wouldn't put too much stock on it. Now move along and get exploring." He said gently, gesturing at the wall of fog that awaited them.

Eve started into the forest, Chimecho going off to prepare further. Alex was lost in his own thoughts though…

_I know this location somehow… and the guardian here… this Uxie… can erase memories?_

The two pieces seemed like they would fit together.

_Did I come here for some reason and Uxie… wiped my memories?_

Before he could continue his line of thought though, Eve got in his face.

"Hey! _Alex!_" He jumped again "What's with you all of a sudden? You usually don't go getting so pensive so frequently on me. C'mon, let's get going already!" and she started off for the forest again, Alex hurrying after her. Not far in though, Alex tried going back to his last thoughts.

_Alright… so I woke up without any memories except for being human… and Uxie can wipe memories. Maybe if Uxie really is here… they'll know something about how I ended up a pokemon…_

His thoughts were interrupted again when he heard Eve up ahead.

"Hey, this looks interesting!"

Alex ran ahead and soon caught up with his partner again. She was looking at a small rock that was a reddish-yellow in color. It wasn't a ruby as far as Alex could tell.

"Pretty isn't it? Sorta like a gem…" Eve commented, gazing at it, she picked it up and she blinked, then hugged it close, an astonished look on her face.

"Whoa… it's so nice and warm even though the sun can't even get through this fog. I don't think it's a lava-rock or anything like that… but I think I'll keep it around. It's kinda neat that way so maybe I can show Marill and Azurill when we get back." Eve then put the rock away in their treasure bag.

_I wonder how many more rocks Eve's going to collect… she could start a rock collection I suppose…_

"Alright, let's go Alex."

Alex put the issues wandering around his head to the back of his mind and focused as he followed Eve into the forest.

o0o

The forest was full of normal-type pokemon like Eve and there were a few birds in the forest as well. The fog was proving a hindrance in a few ways: the first and most obvious was the limitations on visual range. Unfriendly pokemon continually were springing unexpectedly from the fog and Team Long Ears had to keep on their toes as they traveled.

Another issue arose when Alex first tried dealing with a noctowl, a large owl-like pokemon that liked to swoop through the fog like it was night. Normally, Alex could've electrocuted the bird, taking it out in seconds. However, the fog was rather damp and Alex soon found his electricity quickly going in all directions. Most of the electrical shock struck the owl, but its power was clearly reduced from the electricity scattering faster than normal. The bird withstood the electrical current and rapped Alex over the head with its beak. This was when the fog proved to also help, even if it was in a minor way.

The moisture on Alex caused the electricity normally coursing through him to also fly loose more easily. The electrocution that resulted wasn't enough to harm the noctowl but the bird was paralyzed from the extra static.

Alex jumped at the bird and flipped, aggressively bringing his tail down on its head. His tail might've seemed light but Alex had learned on their way up Mt. Horn that it could lay a heavier hit on an enemy than it seemed capable of.

The owl staggered and was knocked out, flopping over on the ground. After taking a moment to rub his head where it had been pecked, Alex continued on.

Perhaps a few hours later, the fog made it impossible to tell the time of day, Eve spoke up.

"Do you think we're any closer to the lake?"  
>Alex glanced around… nothing but trees, grass, and more than enough fog.<p>

_How are we supposed to even find a friendly pokemon in this forest, let alone a lake anyways? We _really_ need to get rid of this fog._

They proceeded and Alex absent-mindedly reached into the treasure bag when he started feeling hungry. He felt around the bag… then he wanted to slap himself in the face. Not an apple to be had in the bag...

He'd forgotten to repack the bag before they departed. He could've blamed Eve and her hurry to get going but he knew in the end, he was to blame for forgetting.

_Great… as if it isn't enough we're good and lost… we're also hungry to boot._

He attempted to ignore his stomach and continued on.

They came to a clearing, no less filled with fog than anywhere else was.

"Alright… where are we in the forest again?" Alex groaned, an edge of hopelessness tingeing his voice. Eve looked around.

"I have no idea…"

The clearing had a few pools of water… and interestingly enough, water falling. However, the water seemed to just be pouring in from the fog itself. Alex couldn't see anything of the source…

"Hey! Hey hey, you two! Team Long Ears!" A familiar voice called.

"Isn't that Corphish?" Eve said and followed the voice. Soon, Corphish came into view. Alex felt some relief to have at least found a fellow guildmember.

"Hey Corphish!" Eve said, clearly just as happy "Have you found the lake yet?"

Corphish hung his head slightly and his arms, which were normally up in the air, sagged a bit.

"No, nothing here. Don't let it get you down." He then looked up "But there _is_ something that's kinda interesting here. Follow me."

They followed the crayfish through the fog and they were confronted with a statue.

Both Alex and Eve slowed and stared at the statue as they came to a halt.

The ground around the statue seemed to have deteriorated from time and erosion, making the statue sit in its location in a cock-eyed fashion, the base tilted from an upright position. It was the figure the statue depicted that had the two staring though. The figure was massive in size and looked like a pokemon, covered in broad, plate-like scales and a wide, strong body that was low to the ground though the pokemon stood on two legs. Alex felt a deep sense of fear as he looked at the large, sharp claws on the statue… just _thinking_ of a fight with this thing seemed to scare him horribly.

"Weird isn't it? I'm wondering what this statue is doing out here in the first place." Corphish commented as they walked around the statue, taking in the imposing figure perched on the pedestal. Then Eve glanced down at the pedestal itself as they came around to the side.

"Oh! There's something engraved here…" she pointed out. Alex and Corphish gathered close to the statue with her as they looked at it.

"Hey, these are footprint runes!" Eve said excitedly, Alex raised eyebrow… the engravings did look like footprints of various sorts but he couldn't see how it could hold any meaning "I can read this!" Eve then exclaimed, somewhat to Alex's surprise.

"Just give me a sec here…" she murmured and started reading, mumbling disjointed sentences as she deciphered the runes. "Alright…" she said finally after a minute

"_Reignite the fire that burned within Groudon's heart  
><em>_Do this and the path to the Treasure shall be revealed._"

Alex and Corphish exchanged glances. They both weren't sure what that had meant.

"I'm pretty sure I got that all correct." Eve said. All three took a moment to think over what they had just heard, trusting Eve's knowledge.

"Okay, so that bit about 'the path to the Treasure', you think the treasure has to do with the lake?" Alex said.

"Hey hey, that sounds right but what about this 'reignite the fire'-bit. What's that supposed to mean, you think, hey hey?" Corphish responded.

Alex considered it… and came up blank. He had no idea whatsoever. But Eve, after a moment, was gazing at him.

"What?" he said, shrugging.

Eve drew up close to him and whispered into his ear.

"_I just had an idea Alex: try touching the statue_."

He looked at Eve, confused at first but then looked at the statue again and realized what she was getting at.

"_Maybe you'll see a vision._"

_Come to think of… that's not a bad idea. No harm done even if nothing happens._

Alex nodded and walked up to the statue and, after taking just a moment to brace himself, he laid a paw on the statue.

A wave of vertigo struck, right on cue.

_Here we go…_ Alex stiffened, keeping himself steady.

A flash and everything was dark. A voice came to his ears, echoing as if they had come from far away and had bounced off one or two walls as they came.

_"It's here! It's here! I've found it!"_

Another flash and Alex steadied himself against the statue. Then the dizziness returned again.

_What? Again? What this time-?_

Yet another flash and another voice came in the dark again.

_"...I see. Put the Drought Stone in the statue and that lifts the fog! Perfect! Good job partner!"_

Alex was returned again to where he was and shook his head, disoriented from the double visions. His ear hung over his eye.

_Ugh… I couldn't get a proper feel of the voices… they were just talking too fast! The echoes didn't help either… Something bothers me about them though…why'd they seem familiar…gah… I can't figure it out…_

_But what they said…_

He looked up at the statue.

"You see something Alex?" Eve said, hope evident in her voice.

Alex glanced at her briefly before looking at the statue again.

_Put the Drought stone in the statue? So this is Groudon? But where do I put it?_

Then the runes on the statue came back to him.

_The heart…_ he walked back around to the front of the figure and looked at the chest of the statue, where the heart would be. There was a clear indentation in the chest over the heart.  
><em>Alright… so I stick a Drought stone there? But where do I find something like… wait a minute…<em>

He turned to Eve.

"Eve, you still have that rock you picked up earlier, right?"

His partner looked understandably curious.

"Yeah… what about it?"

"There's an indentation in the statue here: try putting the stone there."

Eve blinked, trying to figure out what he was getting at but walked up, saw the indentation and pulled out the red stone.

"Alright, I'll try it." She climbed up on the pedestal, the fact that the stone figure utterly towered over her emphasized how huge Groudon was, nonetheless the statue's chest was fully within reach. She fumbled with the stone a moment before sticking it into the indentation. The stone stayed in place and Eve hopped down from the statue.

They waited for perhaps five seconds, then the statue's eyes lit up, glowing reds and the ground shook.

"Uh-oh… we probably ought to back up." Alex said.

They all quickly backed off from the statue. Another moment and the entire statue glowed with light.

The fog cleared in seconds, utterly vanishing and leaving the three apprentices blinking in the suddenly glaring light of the sun overhead.

"Whoa… sun's real bright…" Alex said, squinting.

Eve blinked some more and then her eyes widened!

"Alex! Corphish! Look up! Up!"

Both turned and looked in the direction Eve was stared and their mouths hung open in awe.

"Hey hey, you mean the lake… it's up there?" Corphish said hesitantly.

"No wonder we couldn't find anything… we were probably just going in circles…" Alex murmured, pushing his ear back up to better take in what he was looking at.

In front of them and towering over their heads, was a massive, goblet-shaped formation of rock, water pouring down from the edges to where they were.

They had located Fogbound Lake.


	15. Wigglytuff to the Rescue?

_**Perhaps I ought to consider getting the help of Beta Reader for this. Might help make things better... I certainly feel this chapter could be better.**_

_**Still, enjoy. Please Read & Review. I'd like to improve this chapter if I can.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 14: Wigglytuff to the Rescue?

After several moments of staring, Corphish turned to Team Long Ears.

"Hey hey! Someone needs to go report this to Chatot and the Guildmaster! I'll go, you two go check this out!" he said, jittering with excitement. He then took off.

"He's right, let's go Alex." Eve said.

They hadn't even taken one step forward however when a familiar voice called out.

"Hold it right there! You're not goin' anywhere."

Team Skull came charging in and barred their path.

Alex was getting fed up with these guys by this point.

Skuntank laughed.

"We overheard all the commotion and when your little buddy there told you to go check it out… well, we can't have you finding the treasure first. Team Skull's the one group who's going to find it first!" Eve scowled after hearing this.

"So you bunch of selfish jerks came along just to claim the treasure all for yourselves?" she said angrily. Koffing grinned.

"Whoa-ho-ho! What? You expected any less from us?" he laughed.

"Over my dead body…" Alex growled "I'm not coming all this way just to allow you three cowards to make off with the discoveries the guild made."

"Yeah! We'll take you on right here and go find the lake ourselves!" Eve chipped in.

Skuntank just smirked. Koffing floated up along side him and Zubat backed up.

"Oh yeah, that'll _really_ work now, won't it? I seem to recall what happened last time you two wimps attempted to take us on. You didn't last two seconds against me and Koffing's Noxious Gas Combo." Skuntank said nonchalantly.

Eve swallowed hard, not looking forward another encounter with that trick and Alex got decidedly nervous. They wouldn't be able to fight very effectively if they were both trying to keep their noses plugged. Eve attempted to speak but Skuntank cut-in.

"Enough talk! Take this! Our NOXIOUS GAS-!"

"WAIT! WAIT FOR ME PERFECT APPLE!"

All five pokemon blinked as a very loud voice echoed through the air. They looked around from the source and a large, round apple came rolling in, coming to a halt directly between the two teams.

"What? What's this?" Skuntank said, utterly bemused as he stared at the apple.

Then Wigglytuff came charging in from where the apple had come from and pounced on the apple.

"Got you! My Perfect Apple!" The Guildmaster said happily. Then he looked up and seemed to realize where he was.

"Oh! It's you two!" he said, still happily as he saw Alex and Eve, who looked also just as surprised as Team Skull. The Guildmaster then looked around some more and saw Team Skull.

"Oh! My friends too!" he exclaimed even more happily, throwing his arms up in the air for joy. Team Skull seemed to recoil slightly, looking at Wigglytuff like he was some freak experiment or something disturbing. The Guildmaster didn't seem to notice though…

"G-Guildmaster? What are you doing here?" Skuntank stammered, clearly unsettled from the Guildmaster nearly seeing their rather unfriendly action.

"Me?" Wigglytuff said in a voice of unmistakable innocence and ignorance "My Perfect Apple ran away from me and chased after it! I ran and I ran and now, here I am!" he said, making it all too clear that this should've been obvious.

Alex wasn't sure what to think of the whole situation… then the Guildmaster turned to them.

"You two! There's exploring to be done. Right there!" Wigglytuff said cheerily, pointing at the colossal rock formation before them. "Go on! Get exploring and discovering!"

"But, but…" Eve said, Alex was sure Eve was just as concerned about leaving the Guildmaster alone with Team Skull as him.

"You don't want to listen to your Guildmaster? Booooo! Booooo!" The Guildmaster said, still smiling as he wagged a stub-hand at them like a parent might at a disobedient child. "If you're hungry, here!" and the Guildmaster gave them a few normal apples "Now go on! Get going!" he said, making shoo-ing motions now.

Eve gave in and just turned to Alex.

"Uh… I guess we'd best just get going Alex…" she said rather lamely. Alex followed her and as he glanced back, he saw the Guildmaster waving after them calling "Good luck and happy exploring!"

_Weird… nothing else to describe it but weird…_ Alex decided, shaking his head in some disbelief and turned to follow Eve.

o0o

After about a minute of looking around the base of the rock formation (and eating the apples as they went), they finally found a cave that looked like it went deeper in. The air was thick with moisture, due to the rocks spewing what was clearly steam into the air.

"Steam?" She mumbled "I wonder if it's going to be hot in there…"

"Makes sense…" Alex said thoughtfully "I imagine there'll be some fire-types in there then…" Eve shrugged.

"Well, I'm sure we can handle anything together, so let's do this!" she said and they nodded in agreement. Alex noticed Kangaskhan rock sitting near the entrance and briefly visited it to repack the bag properly before they went in together.

o0o

It turned out the cave also held some bug-types inside as well. One of the first pokemon they ran into was a dragonfly-like yanma. Alex fried the bugs wherever they came across one and continued.

Then they came across a fire-type: a slugma… which resembled a blob of living lava.

The slug's first action when they were close was to spit flames at Alex, who immediately was burnt. Unwilling to do anything that involved touching the thing, Alex shocked the slug which seemed to not be resistant to electricity as it recoiled from the shock. Alex shielded himself from more flames and shocked it again, Eve supporting his efforts.

"Ouch…" Alex winced as the burn across his chest seared with pain. Eve dug through the bag and pulled out what looked like a small, blue, shriveled-looking strawberry.

"Rawst Berry." She explained "That ought to take the sting off that burn for you." She smiled.

Alex popped the berry in his mouth and shivered as he was greeted by a slightly bitter taste.

"Blah… could use a bit of sweetening…" Alex groaned, resisting an urge to spit it out. However it wasn't long after swallowing that his burn cooled and felt like it wasn't there any more. Eve gave him a sympathetic look but shrugged, indicating not much could be done about that.

They continued through the cave, climbing higher and higher.

They encountered more fire-types and Alex continued to notice how Eve faced everything with a quiet determination.

_I'm so glad I met her… she's a good partner to have once she's conquered her fears._

At what felt like halfway up, the rocks took on a more jagged appearance and the steam around the cave thinned out as things cooled. They came to a room that seemed like a good place to rest for a minute.

"Think the lake is up ahead, Alex?" Eve said confidently.

"Yeah, I think so." Alex agreed. _Uxie too I bet… I hope I can get some answers… actually, come to think of it, I haven't told Eve about my feelings concerning this place…_

Eve was just getting up to suggest continuing onwards when Alex got her attention. Alex was about to speak when they heard a distant roar.

"What was that?" his partner said, one ear raised to better pick up the sound. Alex decided he needed to get what he had to say out, now.

"Eve, ever since I came here, I feel like I've been here before."

Eve immediately looked at him astonished.

"Then Chimecho mentioned Uxie and now I'm thinking… maybe Uxie knows something."

Eve blinked as she listened to what he said. Then she nodded.

"Alright then, that's another reason to go find the lake then." She said "Let's go and find the treasure and ask Uxie!"

There was another roar though and it was considerably louder this time.

"What is making that noise?" Eve said looking at the path ahead… the roaring sounded like it had come from over their heads.

"Well, like you said Eve: I'm sure we can handle anything we come across together. So let's go meet Uxie then." Alex said returning his partner's confidence. With that, they proceeded forward and up.

As they traveled up, they encountered volbeat, a firefly-like bug-type a number of times, and the duo took them out as they went.

Alex also found a number of items as they climbed up and up. Apples were found on the ground every now and then. Oran berries and Wonder Orbs were also found on occasion. He also was finding seeds as well. Eve was focused on the exploration, so she didn't notice too many of the items Alex picked up, trusting him to know what most of them were by now, and he did.

He mistook one seed for another type though and saved it for a good time to use it. It would prove key in the fight ahead, though he didn't know it.

After fighting through more volbeat, yanma, and some normal-type pokemon, they finally emerged from the cave into open air.

"This looks like the top." Eve said looking around. The only way left was straight ahead.

Then an ear-splitting roar shook the air!

Both explorers froze as the sound washed over them.

"What… what was that?" Eve said, fear unmistakable in her voice. Alex was shaking with fear himself.

Then the ground shook briefly.

_Boom!… Boom!… Boom!_

Alex felt dread welling up in him and his fear increase.

_That sounds like foot-steps…_ he thought _**Big**__ footsteps._

Another roar and Alex and Eve sheltered their ears.

Then a massive pokemon came stomping forward, shaking the ground with every step.

Alex stared… putting every mental effort in to not run right away, right then.

It was as if the statue they had seen earlier had come to life and had decided to meet them here.

The thick, broad scales were a dark red, the claws were sharp, white, and looked very lethal. The pokemon was so massive as to tower over both Alex and Eve and its eyes showed no mercy awaited any foe.

"G-Groudon…" Alex almost whimpered the name. Uxie wasn't here… and now his confidence was wavering... could the two of them handle this?


	16. Time Gears

_**Another relatively long chapter but not that long. Anyways, I hope I did the fight with Groudon well.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 15: Time Gears

Alex and Eve slowly backed away from the legendary pokemon before them, who seemed to be radiating a wave of dry heat.

"**An exploration team?**" Groudon growled, his voice alone seemed to make the ground vibrate "**I am the guardian of Fogbound Lake! No one passes me! NO ONE!**"

He stomped to emphasize the final words. The action sent another tremor through the ground, popping Alex and his partner into the air a short distance; they managed to stay on their feet upon landing. Eve was shaking and Alex was suddenly reminded of their fight with Drowzee.

_Why am I thinking of him? This is a completely different situation!_

Eve glanced over at Alex and she swallowed hard before getting herself to stop shaking.

"Oh man… this is scary…" she murmured but took a deep breath before apparently working up a determined look.

"You ready for this, Alex? I don't plan to back down…"

_No, I'm far from ready…_ Alex thought but he glanced at his partner again and saw how she was working so hard to be brave. He managed to halt any further thought of running. _It's going to be hard… but I guess all we can do is try!_

"I've got to be brave. I know if we just try our hardest we can do this! C'mon!" Eve said, she was clearly trying to encourage both herself and Alex.

Alex steeled himself…

"Right…" he said, "Let's go!"

Groudon roared and the two apprentices charged.

Eve first slammed headfirst into Groudon in a tackle. The giant shrugged off the attack and Alex followed up with a swift strike at his head.

The red giant reared back and lunged forward with its claws.

"Yipe!" Eve squeaked and jumped out of the way as the claws shredded the ground she had been standing on moments before.

Eve quickly hurled a clump of dirt at Groudon, spraying its eyes with dust. Alex stepped up and Groudon glared at Alex… Then spat a wet glob of mud at him!

Alex screamed as the attack slammed him, hard. He immediately felt extremely weak as the ground-type attack devastated him.

Eve, starting to panic, flailed and slammed into the legendary, who just overlooked the attack. Alex was trying to unearth himself from the violent mud bath when Groudon swiped at him with its massive claws.

_I'm finished…_

Pain was immediate and overwhelming for Alex who tumbled backwards; the attack even knocked the wind out of him, preventing him from crying out.

The treasure bag glowed just then and Alex was hit with a light from the bag. His wounds vanished and Alex felt his strength suddenly return.

_What's happening?_

Alex landed on his feet and a single seed dropped out of the treasure bag. The light coming from it fade and the seed ceased to have any further power.

"Alex! Why didn't you tell me you had gotten a reviver seed? You scared me there!" Eve yelled as she attempted to stare down Groudon.

_A reviver seed, huh? I guess that was lucky… I've got a second chance now… I'm not going to waste it!_

Alex shook off the uncomfortable feeling that was still left from having his severe wounds healed like that. His ear chose that time to flop over his eye.

"Alright, I need to buy a bit of time…" Alex muttered to himself and picked out another seed from the treasure bag. He then hurled it at Groudon, who couldn't avoid having it fly right into his mouth. The legendary's eyes blinked and then he fell backwards onto his rear, asleep.

Eve, recognizing the effects of a sleep seed when she saw it, tackled Groudon again, who didn't wake up. Alex pulled out a different seed and ate this one himself.

"Let's see you shrug off this." Alex said and the seed immediately brought out an almost primal fury in Alex.

The pikachu jumped up at Groudon's head and twirled in air, slamming his tail down on the legendary's head with the force of a sledgehammer.

It went without saying that that woke Groudon up.

The giant roared and attempted to slash Alex, who nimbly evaded the attack and both apprentices struck at once, hard. Eve charged and as Alex slapped his tail down on Groudon's head again, she tackled him in the face.

To their amazement, this proved to be too much for Groudon. He staggered backwards, swaying ever so slightly and then collapsed on the ground with an earth-shaking crash. Eve blinked, amazed.

"We- we did it? We beat Groudon!" she panted. The effects of the seed on Alex seemed to wear off and he calmed down.

"No way…" he mumbled, also amazed they had pulled it off.

Then Groudon glowed, shining with rays of light… and vanished.

"What was that?" Both of them said, thoroughly mystified.

"_That… was not Groudon._" A voice seemed to speak directly into their minds.

They looked around for the source and saw no one present except each other.

"_As I said, I am the guardian of Fogbound Lake and I cannot allow you to pass. Now go back._" To Alex, whoever was speaking sounded weary but determined and firm. Eve stepped forward.

"Please, whoever you are, we just came for information!" she called to the area in general.

"_Oh? Information?_" They sounded suspicious and Alex couldn't help feeling it was likely justified.

"Well, sure we'd like to find treasure after coming all this way…" Eve admitted "But if there's problem with that, we can leave without any!" she added quickly.

"_Hmm…_" the unseen speaker was clearly considering Eve's words and Alex found himself hoping they wouldn't be fighting another battle. Not with another Groudon or something like that… he felt he wouldn't last another one.

"_Alright… I'll trust you…_" the voice finally said, a slight edge included. Alex was certain the speaker felt they were taking a risk.

A ball of light formed a distance from them and the next moment, there was a small figure hovering in the air before them.

The pokemon was primarily teal in color and was about the same size as Alex or his partner if not smaller. They had two tails and had a yellow, dome-like head. The pokemon's eyes were closed.  
>"I am Uxie." He introduced himself, apparently aware of where Alex and Eve were even with his eyes closed "If you'll follow me, I'll show you Fogbound Lake." He then turned and floated the way Groudon had come from. Alex and Eve exchanged looks and then followed.<p>

o0o

They didn't go far before they reached the edge of water. Eve noticed the starry sky overhead.

"Wow, it's already nightfall. We didn't even notice time pass so fast in that cave…" she said looking at the sky.

"Behold! Fogbound Lake!" Uxie announced, gesturing at the lake before them.

Alex pushed his ear out of the way as he gazed over the tranquil lake in awe. Eve looked away from the sky and gasped.

Out over the lake, volbeat were buzzing around, shining with gentle light that reflected beautifully off the water. The lake itself was vast, clear and shined with an unusual green light. The array of lights on the lake, over it and in the night sky gave the scene a quality that couldn't adequately be described by words.

"It's so beautiful…" Eve said, enamoured with the scene. Alex was speechless… such a beautiful lake somewhere so strange and high up.

"Look towards the center of the lake." Uxie directed "You see the light?"

Alex and his partner both gazed down at the lake and squinted at it past the light, seeing under the clear water.

"Yeah… that weird green radiance… I see something there…" Eve said.

They were far away from it but Alex could see a small, neon-green object floating just under the surface of the water near the center of the lake, radiating the light over the entire scene. It was possible it was a different color but the light it was shining with made it look very green.

"What is that?" Eve murmured. Alex wanted to ask that too but something in him… he had the feeling he knew already. In fact, his heart was pounding and he felt his chest tighten…

"_That_… is a time gear." Uxie said solemnly. Alex and Eve looked at Uxie, surprised.

"I guard the time gear… it keeps time going properly." Uxie explained "It is the sole reason I am here and I keep it safe by keeping it secret."

Alex had felt the whole time that Uxie had more power than he looked capable of wielding but now he had no doubt. Eve was curious though.

"You guard it? How?"

Uxie smiled gently in response.

"With a simple little trick I have." There was a brief flash and both explorers jumped back several feet in fright when Groudon was suddenly standing feet from them.

"Don't worry… it is nothing more than an illusion generated by my psychic abilities. The same goes for what you fought just a little while ago." Uxie said calmly. Alex found it hard to believe an illusion could hurt so much…

Eve blinked, stunned. On closer inspection, it was evident Uxie wasn't putting as much effort into this illusion as the fake pokemon seemed to flicker slightly.

"It looked so real…" Eve commented in amazement.

"Many come and I scare off most with this illusion," Uxie explained "But some are strong enough to defeat my illusion and I confront them myself. I protect the lake by taking their memories of it." Uxie said, his tone quite serious.

"Take memory…?" Eve mumbled, the word sparking a memory of her own "Oh yeah, we had a question for you Uxie!" she said. Alex had almost forgotten himself but was remembering too.

"Uxie, this is my friend Alex," Eve said introducing him "A pokemon now… but a former human."

"Really? A human you say?" Uxie said, clearly intrigued. Alex nodded though he wasn't sure if Uxie could sense that. Eve continued.

"I found him some time ago and he couldn't remember anything except being human before. So we were wondering… have any humans visited the lake before and…?" Eve trailed off, the rest of the question obvious.

"Ah… I see. I should explain," Uxie said, his tone apologetic "While I _can_ wipe memories from someone's mind, I cannot erase all memories: only those of Fogbound Lake. Furthermore, no human has ever visited Fogbound Lake. I would certainly remember if one had." Uxie slowly shook his head.

"I'm afraid I have nothing to do with your friend's memory loss and I have no idea how he was transformed into a pokemon. The cause lies elsewhere."

Eve's ears drooped in disappointment and Alex felt a little letdown himself.

"Hmm, I guess the answers aren't here and the only thing here is the lake and a time gear…" she said sadly.

"A time gear? Well, that's too bad. We can't take a time gear!" a very familiar voice called from behind them.

Wigglytuff came running up and stopped, dancing as happily as ever.

"And who might this be?" Uxie said, an eyebrow raised with his eyes still shut.

"This is our Guildmaster." Alex said simply. Wigglytuff turned to Uxie and said in his cheery tones,

"Hello, friendly friend!"

The Guildmaster then wandered over to the illusion still standing off to the side and spoke to it too.

"Hello, friend! Amazing! Friend!"

Alex felt like he might flush with embarrassment. The guildmaster wasn't any different than usual and apparently Team Skull hadn't bothered him. Team Skull wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Alex didn't waste his time worrying about them though.

o0o

A minute or two later, the rest of the guild came running. They immediately jumped back in shock upon seeing the illusionary Groudon still standing around.

Several stammered the name, others whimpered and Chatot squawked.

Wigglytuff came to greet them.

"Hello everyone!" Chatot looked shocked that the Guildmaster was mindlessly standing right next to such a dangerous pokemon.

"Oh, nevermind that," Wigglytuff said in regards to the illusion "Look there! Pretty, pretty!"

Wigglytuff pointed out at the lake. "Ooh! I'm so happy we came!" The guildmaster then started singing softly and very happily.

The lake presently had a geyser erupting from the center, a massive tower of water shaped almost like a crown spraying in all directions. Brilliant light shined through the massive geyser's waters, lighting up the night sky. Uxie seemed to have decided to trust all of them as he did not protest or say anything against all the visitors.

"Every now and then, water rises up from below and is shot into the air like this." Uxie explained "The time gear provides the light that is shining through it. Together with everything else… it is truly a statement of beauty." The guardian said, fondness clear in his tones.

The entire guild stared at the geyser, awe-struck and amazed at the sight they were allowed to see.

"I'm so glad we got to come… this must be the treasure of Fogbound Lake: this wonderful scene…" Eve said contently to Alex.

_I'm glad we came too…_ Alex thought, admiring the scene himself _Kind of a shame we didn't discover anything about myself… hold on…_

_If Uxie didn't erase my memory… then why do I still feel like I've been here before…_

_And why does the time gear make me feel so uneasy?_

Alex had no answers to his questions.

o0o

While they were watching, several of the guildmembers were whispering among each other about the time gear that was lighting up the tower of water.

"I hope this one doesn't get stolen as well."

"Yeah, the one in Treeshroud Forest... that one went missing some days back."

"Can you believe someone actually stole a time-gear?"

"Hah! And Chatot said that no one would steal a time gear!"

Alex wanted to ask about it but... he felt he wasn't really going to get any answers... especially to the one question everyone would be wanting to ask too:

Who would steal a time gear? And why?

o0o

Perhaps a half-hour later, the geyser finally died down and the Guildmaster cheerfully gave his goodbyes to Uxie.

"I've chosen to trust all of you, and thus I will not take away your memories of this place. However, I must ask that you all keep this place secret, for the sake of protecting the time gear." Uxie said.

Wigglytuff nodded enthusiastically.

"You got it! We won't tell a soul! I vow that on the name of Wigglytuff's Guild!" he promised.

"Please hold to that promise…" Uxie said solemnly.

"Chatot!" Wigglytuff said, turning to his lieutenant "If you please…"

Chatot nodded and then turned to the apprentices.

"Everyone! We're heading home!"

They all responded with a loud "**Hurray!**"


	17. Dusknoir

_**Not much to say here. Not all that much action but after the previous chapter, a sort of "rest" should be expected I feel.  
>Next chapter will have a bit more action to it, I promise.<strong>_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 16: Dusknoir

"**HEY! UP and at 'em you TWO! Just 'cause we were UP all night YESTERDAY doesn't MEAN you get to SLEEP in TODAY!**"

Alex woke up to the usual daily headache-inducing wake up call from Loudred. They were back at the guild and it was back to business as usual.

"I forgot over that expedition how much pain Loudred's wake up call causes me in the morning… I really should've appreciated those quiet mornings better…" Eve groaned as they got up and headed out for morning cheers.

o0o

They were about to head out to pick out jobs from the boards when Loudred made more noise at his task than was usual for him.

"WHAT? You can't IDENTIFY them?" Loudred was yelling incredulously down the hole at Diglett.

"I'm telling you," Diglett's voice came back "I can't identify what I don't _know_!"

Chatot came over, asking what was the matter.

Loudred rolled his eyes and explained.

"There's someone at the gate Diglett can't identify. He's rarely stumped by any footprints." He then glanced at Team Long Ears "If it were 'Sparky' over there, it wouldn't be a surprise…"

Alex gave him an un-amused looked.

"Gee… thanks…" He really didn't need the reminder about how bad he was at sentry duty. Then they heard Diglett speaking.

"Excuse me?… OH! You're _the_ Dusknoir? Just a minute!"

Overhearing the name "Dusknoir" drew surprised looks from both Chatot and Loudred who stared down the hole, apparently wondering if they'd heard right.

A few minutes later, the Guildmaster was personally greeting a large pokemon that was hovering off the ground.

_No wonder Diglett couldn't ID him… he doesn't _have_ a footprint for cryin' out loud!_

"I am honored to visit the world-renowned Wigglytuff's Guild." The visitor said cordially to Wigglytuff. "It is famous after all."

Several of the guildmembers had followed the visitor back down into the second level of the guild. They were all whispering among each other and gazing at the floating pokemon with some awe.

"Hey, Loudred…" Eve said quietly.

"Yeah? What do you want?" Loudred muttered, only turning slightly to see them.

"Who is that?"

Loudred whirled, looking shocked.

"What? You mean you DON'T know the world-famous DUSKNOIR?" he said, incredulous again. Eve stepped back, looking embarrassed.

"That's not really all that surprising." Sunflora said, stepping in on the conversation "I mean the guy kinda just popped up overnight."

_Famous that fast? Wow…_ Alex glanced over at Dusknoir, his respect already starting to grow.

"What's he so famous for anyways?" Eve asked.

"Well first off, he does all his exploring solo." Loudred said.

"Alone?" Eve looked impressed.

"Yeah. He's gotta be pretty confident to do things that way." Loudred said nodding.

"But what's really amazing about Dusknoir is how much he knows." Sunflora said "He's virtually a living encyclopedia!"

Alex looked over at the conversation between Wigglytuff and Dusknoir and noted how the guildmaster was acting very familiar with the visitor.

"So… does the guildmaster know Dusknoir personally?" Alex asked.

"Nah, this is the first time Dusknoir has visited the guild." Loudred said with a shrug.

"Huh?" Alex blinked and looked again. "Then why is the guildmaster being so friendly like that?"

"That's just how the guildmaster is… he's friendly towards everyone who visits." Loudred said in a resigned tone.

It was about then that the welcome ended and Wigglytuff turned around.

"Everyone! This is the famous Dusknoir!" The guildmaster said, introducing their visitor to everyone "He has told me he will be staying at Treasure Town for the next few days! I'm sure everyone would like to ask him questions about all he knows and for autographs but let's not annoy our guest, okay?"

Alex couldn't really get a clearer look at Dusknoir as he was too far away and the crowd in the room was getting in the way. He could barely see the visitor's head, which was gray and had a single, glowing red eye.

"I'm afraid you flatter me…" Dusknoir said with some abashment "If you want autographs, I'm only too happy to oblige… but knowledge? Well, I'm afraid don't know _everything_…"

_He certainly sounds humble…_

"Alright Alex," Eve said turning to him "I don't think we're going to be able to get in a word with Dusknoir right now so let's just get to work." And so they set off up the ladder and to the boards, passing by a veritable crowd jabbering about Dusknoir.

o0o

The day went by in a blur and Alex found that the expedition had made both of them even stronger. They did fail to bring in an outlaw as the pokemon had escaped them and disappeared but they decided to not let it get them down and that they would try again to haul in the convict another time.

They went to bed feeling satisfied with themselves.

o0o

The next day, Chatot had something for them to do.

"You two, before you go to work at board-jobs, I'd like you to drop by Treasure Town briefly and visit Kecleon Market."

Alex asked what they needed to do there.

"I want you ask them if they plan to stock Perfect Apples."

The uncomfortable incident of several days past came back to mind…

"You see, the guild food-stock can hold plenty of food and especially Perfect Apples but the Guildmaster likes to raid it whenever no one's looking." Chatot explained "But it's such a bother to send someone to fetch apples from the Woods every time… it would be very convenient-"

"-if we could just go buy them, right?" Eve finished for him, smiling. Chatot nodded.

"Precisely."

"We can do that. C'mon, Alex."

o0o

As they went into town, several residents shared their condolences with Team Long Ears about the expedition as the news that had been given to everyone was that they hadn't found anything at the forest. "Nothing but fog and trees there. Big waste of time." Wigglytuff had even given this news to Dusknoir personally back at the Guild. Alex felt a bit guilty that they were lying to these perfectly kind pokemon but... the time gear needed to be protected.

As they approached the Market, they saw a figure that was obviously Dusknoir from yesterday. Alex got a good look at Dusknoir this time.

Dusknoir was almost entirely gray in color. Alex judged from his hovering and his general shape that he was a ghost-type. Dusknoir had a very large rounded body with an odd face-like design that looked like gold on his belly. His head was relatively small and the only thing that was very clearly there was a mouth-like opening and his single eye within it. His arms were massive and very muscular with just-as-large hands, either one could've easily wrapped the fingers around Alex's entire body.  
>For some reason Alex couldn't explain... looking at the pokemon sent an uneasy shiver down his spine.<p>

Dusknoir was talking jovially with the Kecleon brothers. Eve stepped up and cheerily said hello.

"What you doing here Dusknoir, sir? Business?" Dusknoir laughed lightly in response, his tone very genial.

"No, no. Merely enjoying a chat."

"I hailed down the Great Dusknoir!" The green Kecleon brother said. "He proved in our conversation just how very worldly and wise he is!" The shop-owner said, looking at the visitor with admiration.

"I don't believe I've met you two." Dusknoir said, turning to Alex and his partner.

"I'm Eve, this is my partner; we both live at the Guild. We're Team Long Ears." Eve said. Dusknoir laughed again, the sound was deep and hearty.

"Team Long Ears you say? How fitting and very amusing." He laughed some more, clearly enjoying meeting them. Alex also liked Dusknoir, he seemed like a very friendly fellow. Then Kecleon seemed to realize he had possible customers and spoke to Eve.

"Oh yes, Eve! You came to shop, yes? Fine items! Fine wares!" he said, almost singing as he displayed his inventory.

"Ah… sorry," Eve said "We're here just to ask a question right now. Chatot wanted us to ask if you planned on stocking Perfect Apples."

The shopowners took a moment to think about it.

"Perfect Apples? Hmmm…" he finally answered, shaking his head sadly "My apologies but we have no plans to stock Perfect Apples."

Eve drooped a bit, disappointed.

"That's a shame… Chatot won't be happy to hear that."

"Hurry up Azurill!"

Marill and his brother came running by just then, yelling and obviously in a hurry.

"Hey, what has the two of you in a tizzy?" Alex said, half-laughing. Marill stumbled to a halt.

"Oh, hi Team Long Ears! We're just on our way to the beach! We heard from a reliable source that they spotted our lost item there and we wanted to finally get it back!" Marill was running in place, but Alex had to ask:

"What is this lost item of yours anyways?"

"It's called a Water Float." Marill explained. Dusknoir looked up, astonished as he heard the name of the item.

"A Water Float? Well now, that _is_ quite the valuable item!"

"Sorry to rush but we _really_ want to get our item back so if you'll excuse us!" Marill said hurriedly and ran off down the street, Azurill bounding after him.

The green Kecleon brother looked curious.

"A Water Float? What is that?"

Dusknoir turned his head to them and explained.

"A Water Float is an item that is specially designed for an azurill. It is no wonder they want it back so badly. It is a _very_ rare and valuable item." The shopowner looked almost beside himself upon hearing this.

"We deal in the sale of items and yet I've never heard of such a thing before now! I fear we shall never sell such a wondrous item!" he hung his head in despair.

Eve seemed to remember what they were there for just then.

"Oh crap! We need to get back to the guild and report to Chatot!" Alex and Eve promptly hurried back to the Guild.

o0o

Chatot was, indeed disappointed to hear that the shop wouldn't be supplying Perfect Apples.

"What am I going to do now?" he squawked to himself.

"We could go to Apple Woods to get some for you…" Eve suggested shyly.

Chatot's reaction was predictable:

"What? Are you mad? After what happened last time?" he yelled and Alex recoiled. The bird calmed down though.

"I'm sorry… I recognize all that you two did over the expedition and what you have done for us since but…" he shook his head, covering it with one wing.  
>"The whole incident with the Guildmaster and the apples…" Alex felt like he was withering, remembering that unpleasant event.<br>"That was all somewhat traumatic for me… and I just don't want to risk it happening again." Chatot said miserably. He turned away.  
>"I'll just go get the apples myself. You two just go do jobs." He said gently.<p>

"_Why did you have to bring that up?_" Alex muttered tensely to Eve as they walked away. His partner looked very sorry.

o0o

Alex was in a sour mood that day as his mind dwelt on the incident, and took out his frustration on the unfriendly pokemon they encountered as they traversed the dungeon they were exploring that day.

_One screw-up like that and Chatot won't trust us anymore… and wasn't our fault! Argh!_

He violently fried another opponent and Eve just quietly kept her distance.

By the end of the day, Alex was finally calming down.

_Well… I have to face the facts: what's done is done and there's no changing that now. I might as well just drop the issue from my mind and get on with life._

Chatot had a word with the entire Guild before they dug in for dinner that evening and it further distracted Alex from his irritation:

"As all of you probably know, the time gear in Treeshroud Forest has been missing for some time now and Officer Magnezone has not been able to find the culprit. This is why I must ask all of you: please do not reveal to _anyone_ what we found out about Fogbound Lake. We must do what we can to protect the remaining gears. Do I make myself clear?"

Some of the apprentices reacted to this in outrage as they knew full-well about the promise they had made.

"I don't have a big mouth!" Loudred roared (Alex had to stifle a snort at this).

"Eek! I would never forget our promise to Uxie!" Sunflora shrieked.

Others were swearing they hadn't leaked so much as a hint. Alex and Eve also exchanged glances and knew that they wouldn't even dream of telling anyone.

o0o

As they settled down for the night, Alex turned to Eve briefly.

"Look… sorry about what I said after we had reported to Chatot this morning… it wasn't your fault…"

Eve just put on a small smile and nodded. Alex turned over in bed, and sighed. His mind wandered over various thoughts.

_It's been a couple of days… I hope Uxie back at Fogbound Lake is okay…_

He dropped off to sleep without noticing.


	18. Grovyle Attacks

_**A short chapter again. There's definitely more action to this chapter.**_

_**Hope you all enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 17: Grovyle Attacks

Grovyle had decided to slow down after his tiring charge across the continent. He figured if he attempted to go at full speed like that the entire way, he would not have the energy to fight Dusknoir, as he was sure he would have to sooner or later.

As a result the trip back towards Fogbound Lake (his next target) took several more days than he had planned.

It didn't help when he fell into a pit-fall once or twice and had to tangle with hostile residents in a Monster House.

He still was thinking about Alex in the back of his mind, worried about his partner's well being and if he might've been caught yet. Whenever the possibly of his partner being captured crossed his mind, he quickly banished it again… he was sure the boy could take care of himself alone.

_He'd been with me for some time… I'd think he would know how to survive now._

Grovyle refocused his attention on the matter at-hand: going to Fogbound Lake and slammed aside another pokemon attempting to bar his path.

o0o

He finally arrived at the lake perhaps five days later (maybe longer, he hadn't kept close enough track of the days), considerably more rested than he had been when he had arrived at the previous location after his two day non-stop sprint.

The time-traveler took some comfort in the fact that time didn't seem to be slowing down around the lake…yet.

_If I keep up this pace, I should be able to prevent time from stopping well before the situation becomes irreversible._

Fog awaited him in the forest and he charged in.

o0o

Unfortunately, Grovyle found himself quickly getting lost and at one point, found himself going back out the way he'd come in.

He cursed silently and went back into the forest, attempting to stick to one direction.

The noctowl in the forest proved the most troublesome for him as the birds pecked at him when they could get close enough, which certainly hurt. However, he was far too strong for any of the residents of the forest. The pokemon here were even weaker than the ones he had encountered in the last location.

He pounded his way through and made his way through the forest, trying to keep himself going in one direction.

It was after only a few hours (though he couldn't be sure) that he suddenly stepped out into sunlight and a lack of fog.

For about two seconds he thought he had somehow walked back outside the forest and was about to swear violently out of frustration when he looked up and saw the goblet-like rock formation before him.

He remembered that.

Both he and Alex had been astonished when they first seen it in the future before (it was mildly confusing to say they had seen it in the "past"). They had solved the riddle of the statue and, despite time being at a standstill, the statue had still cleared the fog and there was the lake's perch: sitting right there before them.

Grovyle had always admired the human's problem-solving abilities. He was sure that had helped him survive before they had met; though skills like that could only help a person so far before they encounter a situation that called for brute force… which the boy didn't have.

Once again, Grovyle's thoughts wandered into feeling concern for his partner.

_No, if the fog here in the past is already clear, then he must have been here already meaning he's alive and well. Since time isn't stopped, he obviously hasn't collected it but given that there's a guardian over the gear, I can't blame him for not having collected it. He's at least helped me though._

Grovyle ran up to the base of the rock formation and started searching for the entrance in so he could begin going up. He came across the statue of Groudon on the way and looked over the statue... there in the statue's chest was a red-yellow Drought stone. Alex had to have been here and did this to help Grovyle find his way...

Grovyle moved on though, he had no time to waste observing fog-clearing statues.

o0o

Again, his trip through the mystery dungeon was an easy one as he was far stronger than any of the pokemon he would encounter in the cave. Even the occasional fire-type was no match for him as he slammed them with a dirt-covered fist after burrowing into the ground to avoid their attacks.

He soon reached a halfway point and took a moment to rest and rejuvenate himself. He heard a distant roar.

_That would be the guardian of the lake I imagine…_ Grovyle thought, looking up. He wasn't concerned about fighting whatever awaited him… he was sure he'd dealt with worse before. If the residents of the cave were any indication, the fight that awaited him would be hatchling's play compared to his fight with the aggron and his underlings.

Grovyle didn't allow himself to become overconfident though. He couldn't afford to mess up. The world couldn't afford it…

o0o

After fighting his way through weaker bug-types and other hostile residents of the steamy cave, Grovyle finally arrived at the top to fresh air and a clearing.

Another loud roar and he posed himself to fight.

The massive, red, scaled giant that Grovyle knew was Groudon came stomping toward him, emanating waves of heat.

"I guess you're probably not going to let me by, are you?" Grovyle muttered.

"**I am Groudon! I guard this place and I shall allow no one to pass!**" he roared.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to pass and I don't have time to waste."

Grovyle rushed at Groudon and swiftly evaded a claw-strike and counter attacked with his leaf blades. Groudon staggered back, the attack having hit extremely hard. The legendary attempted to spit a glob of mud at the grass-type but Grovyle didn't waste time evading it and struck again hard, ignoring the slight pain from getting hit.

The illusion utterly shattered and Grovyle looked around in alarm. He hadn't expected the guardian to vanish on him quite like that and now he was looking out for a trap.

"_Ugh! You're a strong one!"_ A voice echoed in his head.

Grovyle recalled the stories about Uxie just in time to avert his eyes downward when a light gathered before him. Uxie appeared and Grovyle looked anywhere but at the guardian's face; he was sure Uxie had his eyes wide open, trying to wipe his memory. If he forgot his mission, everything was doomed.

Closing his eyes to make sure he didn't make eye contact, Grovyle relied on his hearing and other senses and lashed out at Uxie, who drifted away in alarm from his attacker. Grovyle chased after Uxie until they were at the lake edge, where Grovyle violently landed a blow on Uxie.

The guardian retaliated with a psychic blast that assailed Grovyle's mind but he withstood the attack and lashed out again. Uxie quickly flew over the leaf blades and resettled in his position barring Grovyle's path before striking with another psychic blast.

Grovyle was finding Uxie to be far more challenging than his previous opponents and he quickly became concerned he might fall if he didn't use more care. He restrained his anxiety though and struck again, trying to make sure Uxie couldn't evade his attack.

Uxie couldn't act fast enough and was struck hard again. He cried out in pain and collapsed on the ground.

"Rgh… I knew it… I should've taken their memories…" Uxie muttered angrily, breathing hard "Wasn't long after they left... someone stronger came… and is here to take the time gear!"

Grovyle opened his eyes and looked at his opponent, who didn't have the strength now to keep his eyes open. He was barely conscious. Grovyle was safe.

"I don't know what you're talking about… but you're wrong. No one told me about this place. I've known about it for a long time now." Grovyle said calmly.

He stepped up and stood next to Uxie, looking at his downed opponent.

"I'm sorry… I have no personal issues with you but I _must_ take that time gear."

With that Grovyle dived into the lake and swiftly made his way to the gear waiting in the center. He snatched it and time immediately reacted violently to the action.

A wave of energy swept across the lake, leaving behind gray water and land, time freezing swiftly.

When Grovyle returned to shore, Uxie had fled.

Grovyle felt some guilt at having injured Uxie so badly but he shook this off. He had done what he had to do to get the time gear.

"Only two more and I'm ready…" Grovyle murmured and then headed out.


	19. Two Shocking Developments

_**Surprise. I decided to do another chapter after the last one came out so short. This one is a doozy though. Big!**_

_**Hopefully, I did well... I certainly think I did. Enjoy!**_

PMD 2:A Novelization

Chapter 18: Two Shocking Developments

Team Long Ears woke up for another day of work.

Both apprentices were in good spirits and ready to help more pokemon around town.

Loudred got their attention though just as they were headed up the ladder to visit the job boards.

"Team Long Ears! You've got yourselves a couple of visitors." Loudred said, jerking a thumb up.

Alex and Eve exchanged glances.

"I wonder who wants us?" Eve murmured and they headed up both ladders to the entrance.

Marill and Azurill were waiting. Eve greeted them happily.

"Hey, are both of you our visitors? What do you need?"

"Hi Team Long Ears, we need your help with something." Marill said.

"We need your help finding a Water Float." Azurill added.

"Wait, wasn't that the item you went looking at the beach for yesterday?" Alex asked.

"Yes… we went there and we didn't find our Water Float… just this." Marill explained, pulling out a slip of paper that had writing scrawled across it.

They took the paper from Marill and read it:

_We've got your Water Float._

_You want it?_

_Come to Amp Plains and get it!_

_Chaw-haw-haw!_

Alex had feeling he knew who had written this note.

"This sounds like a trap. You shouldn't go!" Eve said, concern in her voice.

"I tried going there once already myself. There's no way I'm taking Azurill somewhere so dangerous." Marill explained tears appearing in his eyes "But there's so many electric-types at Amp Plains I got knocked out right away. I'm just so weak…" Marill looked about ready to cry since it seemed they wouldn't be getting their item back.

"We'll go." Alex declared without hesitating. "Right, Eve?" he said looking at his partner, who nodded in agreement.

"Really?" Marill sniffed, calming down.

"Right! So no more tears!" Eve said cheerily "We'll go get your Water Float and return it to you!"

With that Alex and Eve marched out, Marill and Azurill wishing them well. They visited Treasure Town only briefly to prepare for the trip into the Plains before heading out.

o0o

Amp Plains was far to the north. The ground there was cracked, dry and very little grass was growing anywhere there. The sky was dark with thunderclouds roiling overhead.

Alex, being electric-type himself, felt like he'd be very much at home in the thick amount of electricity flowing in the air. He focused himself though on the task at-hand.

"Amp Plains… here we come." Alex murmured as they braced themselves for what awaited.

As Marill had said, the plains were teeming with electric-types, one of the most common it seemed was a sheep-like pokemon called mareep. The sheep looked rather adorable at a glance, covered with a heavy coat of wool and sporting a thick striped tail that ended in a glass-like orb.

The wool was charged with an unbelievable amount of static.

First thing that happened was one mareep discharged a stream of static into Alex. Some of the charge just added to Alex's charge but it still hurt getting struck like that.

Alex slapped the mareep over the head with his tail and as the sheep passed out, he lead Eve onwards, shaking off the tingling feeling from the shock.

Another resident of the plains was shinx, small cat-like pokemon that had electricity coursing through them. They were black and teal in color with a slender tail that ended in a yellow tuft of stiff hair.

Eve ended up confronting one shinx and it charged at her, crackling with electricity.

Eve tried to get up after getting hit but found herself paralyzed from the electricity and Alex shot past her to strike the shinx. It struck again, clawing Eve with electrically charged claws and Alex defended her aggressively. After the shinx collapsed from Alex's beatdown, he helped Eve get to her feet and she finally managed to shake off the paralysis.

They journeyed further into the plains, also coming across girafarig which were long-necked pokemon with an odd tail. They proved to be psychic-type.

_Guess it's not _just_ electric-types here though they're certainly the majority._

The Plains seemed to get less and less forgiving as they headed deeper and deeper. Shinx's evolved counter-parts: luxio replaced the small cats, which were bigger and had black manes of fur around their faces and wielded even more electricity. Alex found luxio to be more difficult to take down than shinx.

They also saw the occasional flaffy, which were evolved forms of mareep, missing half their wool and looking very pink in color. The sheep also had considerably more static despite having less wool.

Partway, Alex pulled out a Max Elixir and drank it as he was getting exhausted from all the fights he was handling and Eve also ended up needing to use one as well. Alex had also packed larger apples for the trip and found himself congratulating himself for the wise decision.

As if the tougher opponents weren't enough, the team also occasionally stepped into traps and one of their wonder orbs was slimed with a sticky gunk that made the orb impossible to use effectively. This wasn't the only thing that happened when they tripped some traps but it was fortunately the most annoying. Other traps weren't so bad.

o0o

After several hours of searching the plains, they finally reached a clearing where no enemies seemed to be and they found a chance to rest. Up ahead, the clouds were violently unleashing an electrical fury upon the landscape.

"We've searched most of the plains…" Eve said "The only area left is up ahead."

She didn't look like she wanted to go exploring the location and given the gratuitous amounts of lightning striking the ground up ahead, Alex couldn't blame her. He found himself feeling very grateful he was electric-type or he might've been more unnerved and possibly unwilling to go.

"Well, the Float's gotta be up ahead… let's go." Alex said and they got up and headed into the Deep Plains.

o0o

Alex was confronted with immense frustration within seconds.

A new resident had appeared: electrike. The pokemon was primarily green in color and was on all fours similar to shinx and had an elongated head. The problem Alex was faced with was that whenever the pokemon was in the same room or anywhere nearby, it immediately drew his electrical attacks toward it, which it absorbed without being bothered by the shock.

Alex made a point of charging down the annoyances whenever they appeared. Eve especially helped and Alex realized that he had been taking his partner for granted for a while. He hadn't felt so grateful for a long time to have his partner at his side, helping him through these hardships.

o0o

After another hour or so of working their way forward, they finally arrived at another clearing. Lightning was blowing up the ground all around, thunder pounding their ears.

"Yikes!" Eve cried out when lightning flashed particularly close-by, the thunder deafening "This place is dangerous!"

_Yeah… what was your first clue?_ Alex couldn't help thinking as he looked around.

"Let's find that Water Float and get out of here!" Eve said and looked around as well, she soon pointed ahead at something that was glinting on the ground.

"There! What that's?" Alex tried to see what she was seeing from where they were but he couldn't make out what the object was clearly enough.

"C'mon, let's get a closer look." Alex said and started forward.

Immediately things got very dark.

"_Halt_! Who goes?" Someone yelled.

Alex looked around, and carefully edged with Eve over to a rock and took cover behind it.

"It's no use trying to hide! I can see you wherever you may hide then… I'll _strike_!"

Eve shook her head and jumped out, Alex tried to stop her but ended up following her out of cover.

"Where are you?" she yelled out to the clearing "Show yourself!"

Lightning flashed and things went dark for two seconds.

When Team Long Ears could see again, they were surrounded by six luxio.

A very large pokemon with a great mane of black fur was directly before them, sharp, merciless gold eyes glaring at both of them. A luxray. A fully evolved shinx.

"I am Luxray! These are our lands!" he declared fiercely "Fight!"

Alex and Eve had no time to speak as the luxio all charged in on them at once!

Alex ate a seed that he had packed, the same type he had eaten in the fight with Groudon and that same primal rage overrode him. The "violent seed", as it was called, was proving a very useful tool.

Eve promptly bit one of the first luxio to get close to her. The attack startled the luxio who recoiled back.

Alex unleashed a violent stream of electricity into another luxio, and though typing cut the attack's effectiveness, the luxio was still knocked to the ground by the violent shock.

Two luxio each came at Alex and Eve. They bit both of them with fangs flowing with electricity. Alex found this did hurt but not as much as Eve, who screamed.

Alex looked around quickly and found there was no room to move.

"Time to clear things out." Alex growled and unleashed a heavy charge of electricity all around him. Eve ducked just in time to avoid getting shocked. The luxio around Alex weren't so fast.

Four were hit by the powerful electrical shock and the attack also hit Luxray, who withstood it. All four luxio backed off, cowed by Alex's aggression. Eve snapped at the last one, which had already been bitten by her once and backed off after experiencing her fangs again. All six luxio backed up until they were behind their leader.

Luxray seemed just to get more furious than discouraged.

He lashed out at Eve with his electric claws and Eve quickly backed away, getting tired and scared.

Alex stood his ground and jumped at Luxray, flipped, and slammed Luxray over the head with his tail like he had so many other opponents.

The violent seed's effect chose that moment to start fading and Alex's fatigue from the journey here, the fighting, and his injuries started taking its toll on him.

Luxray staggered back, livid with fury.

"_You!_ You dare…?" he snarled, and electricity started crackling about him as he readied a bigger attack.

"Please! Wait just a minute!" Eve cried, jumping forward. Her words fell on deaf ears though.

"Enough! Take this!" Luxray roared and started charging an attack at his mouth.

"Eve! No!" Alex cried and jumped in front of her to shield her from the impending attack, shutting his eyes as he braced himself for the attack. He knew with how utterly tired he was feeling now, the attack might kill him but he wasn't about to let Eve be the one to get killed!

"**STOP**!"

The voice that bellowed the command was loud and very imposing and the sound of electricity immediately ceased.

Alex opened his eyes and looked up, to see Dusknoir hovering before them, his arms spread wide similar to Alex, shielding both of them from Luxray.

"Stop this instant!" Dusknoir roared and Luxray and all six luxio stepped back, stunned by the sudden appearance of the team's protector.

"You… who are you?" Luxray growled, still ready to fight but considerably calmer than he had been moments ago; the leader was using more caution. Dusknoir lower his arms but still remained ready to defend them as he explained.

"I am Dusknoir, the explorer. On behalf of these two, I offer the _sincerest_ apologies. They trespass but do so without malice. I understand why you would attack them, especially in light of what has happened to your tribe on these grounds. _I understand that completely_! We are here on an errand and will leave as soon as we have found what we are looking for. Please, believe me Luxray!"

Luxray glared down Dusknoir for several moments as he considered his words. Luxray then finally straightened up slightly.

"You seem to know much about us Dusknoir. And you say they come with no malice…?"

Alex swallowed, hoping Dusknoir hadn't just been dragged into the fight.

"Very well." Luxray said, completely calm now and appearing at-ease "I shall choose to believe you. We shall give you a few minutes… I expect you all to be gone by the time we return."

With that, Luxray turned sharply to his tribe and with a quiet command of "Come." they left the clearing.

Eve huffed out a breath of extreme relief and nearly fell over.

"Thank you Dusknoir, sir. Who were they?" Eve said. Dusknoir turned to both of them, his arms relaxed at his sides now.

"That was Luxray and the Luxio tribe. They are a nomadic group that are always travelling in search of lands to sustain them. Amp Plains is lashed by severe thunderstorms this time of the year," Dusknoir gestured up at the clouds overhead to support his point "They find it to their liking so they tend to dwell here at this time. However, I understand they were attacked without warning here once and suffered severe injuries. So they made it a rule to attack first to avoid being taken by surprise. I happened to ask the two brothers you are helping about their lost item and they filled me in on what happened. When I heard you had gone here… well, I fear what might've happened had I arrived a moment later…"

"You saved both of us." Alex breathed "Seriously, thank you!"

"Yes…" Dusknoir said with a nod "Now then, let's find that Water Float and leave, shall we?"

"I think that might be it, right over there." Eve said, pointing at the item they had seen before Luxray had attacked.

They walked (or hovered in Dusknoir's case) over to the item and Eve glanced at Dusknoir for confirmation about the item. Dusknoir nodded.

"Yes… this is most certainly a Water Float."

"How come it's all the way out here anyways?" Eve muttered. Dusknoir's response was in a grave tone.

"I imagine it was put there deliberately… the culprits knew about Luxray and his tribe's patterns and put it here hoping to trigger a fight between the two of you."

Dusknoir glared off to one side.

"Isn't that right? You lot of cowardly scum!"

Alex gaped when Team Skull came out from a secure hiding place; he hadn't thought they would sink so low as to try pulling this kind of stunt on them. Skuntank in the lead laughed.

"'Guess you got us. Yeah, we put that there." Skuntank confessed, all without the slightest hint of guilt.

"We were hoping Luxray and his group would work those two over." Koffing said.

"Then we'd mop-up afterwards." Zubat added.

"Seems only fair after what that blasted Wigglytuff did to _us_." Skuntank growled. Alex gathered that they had done more than just talk with the Guildmaster back at Foggy Forest…

"Shall we settle this here?" Dusknoir said, a quiet menace in his tones. Skuntank smirked.

"Oh yeah… if it was just Team Long Ears there alone, you'd bet we'd rough them up but good."

Dusknoir hovered closer to them, taking this to be a challenge.

"But against the world-famous Dusknoir?" Skuntank shook his head "Let's skidaddle boys!"

Team Skull promptly turned and ran.

"Hmph! I'm never forgiving that bunch of jerks!" Eve huffed.

Alex would've loved the excuse to go fry the lot of cowards but Dusknoir spoke up first.

"They certainly are good at… 'skidaddling'. Our efforts here would be wasted if we chased after them though so let's just collect the Water Float and leave."

Team Long Ears nodded in agreement and they gathered up the lost item.

o0o

Back in town Marill and Azurill, who were chatting with the Kecleon brothers, were overjoyed to recover their lost item after so long.

"First you rescued Azurill and now this…" Marill said, starting to cry out of happiness this time.

"Aw, it was nothing." Eve said "You really should thank Dusknoir though, if he hadn't come, we probably wouldn't be here now."

Both brothers thanked Dusknoir with equal enthusiasm. The ghost-type rubbed his head with one hand, apparently abashed by the attention. The green Kecleon brother spoke up.

"I believe Team Long Ears has reason to be just as proud of themselves. They reacted so quickly and efficiently to Azurill when he was in trouble." The shop-owners nodded in agreement with each other.

"Yeah… about that…" Eve said almost like she was admitting guilt to a crime "The only reason we acted so quick on that was because of a dream my partner here had…"

Dusknoir blinked and stared at them.

"Pardon? By dream, what do you mean?"

Eve was momentarilly stunned then explained to Dusknoir how Alex occasionally experienced dizzy-spells followed by "dreams" after touching objects and pokemon.

"Why… that's the Dimensional Scream!" Dusknoir said, clearly astonished. Eve was surprised at first…

Then she got an idea. She turned to Alex and whispered to him.

"Hey Alex, I just realized: Dusknoir knows a lot so maybe we could ask him about you…"

"Huh?" Alex was still trying to figure out how Dusknoir had a name for his visions.

"C'mon! Maybe he has an idea of what happened to you and caused you to lose your memory."

Alex finally caught on and after glancing at Dusknoir, he nodded. Dusknoir was staring at Alex with an expression that could only be described as confused. Considering he had just found out about Alex's strange ability, it wasn't surprising.

"Dusknoir, sir? Could we get your opinion on something?" Eve asked.

o0o

A few minutes later, the three of them were down at the beach and Dusknoir was looking over the sand.

"So you found your friend passed out here? Without any memory?" Dusknoir said as he investigated the area.

"Yes," Eve confirmed "He had lost his memory except for his name and that he was human."

Dusknoir was suitably shocked to hear this.

"P-pardon me? H-human?" he stammered. He looked at Alex blinking, evidently trying to see the pikachu as a human and turned back to Eve.

"But he appears to be an absolutely normal pikachu!" Dusknoir protested.

Eve sighed.

"I suppose this is a bit beyond even the Great Dusknoir's understanding…" she mumbled.

Dusknoir calmed himself down and brought a hand up to his eye in a thoughtful look.

"You said you remembered your name?" Dusknoir said, addressing Alex, who nodded.

"And that is?"

Alex gave his name, shrugging… he didn't see how his name would help…

His ear flopped over his eye…

Dusknoir blinked once, his expression perfectly neutral and looked away with his arms crossed, thinking.

"So… does that name mean anything to you?" Eve asked.

Dusknoir remained silent for a moment.

"No…" he said… and Alex could've sworn in that instant there was a trace of a smile on Dusknoir's face but he couldn't be sure, as it was gone just as fast  
>"It means nothing to me unfortunately…" the ghost sighed.<p>

Eve drooped with disappointment and Alex sighed himself, jerking his head so his ear got out of his sight again.

"However, I _do_ know about his ability." Dusknoir said "It's known as the Dimensional Scream. Sights and sounds reach across time and space, going through pokemon and arriving in the form of visions. It's a very rare, perhaps even unique ability that I've only heard of up 'til now." he explained. "I'm afraid that is about all I know concerning that most intriguing ability."

The duo nodded, understanding though disappointed that the information wasn't all that useful. Dusknoir gave them a cordial bow.

"Of course, if you need _any_ help you have my full support! I'm most interested in studying this ability of yours. To be honest, I can't stand knowing that there's something I don't know. _That_ is the complete truth!" he then laughed in that hearty, jolly manner of his. Both apprentices were pleased to have such a powerful explorer present to help.

They were distracted when several shadows passed over them.

They looked up to see several pelipper circling about in the sky. The sea birds were the local postal delivery pokemon and Eve commented on the unusual number of them in the skies. Just then Bidoof came running up, huffing and out of breath.

"There ya'll are…" he breathed "Been lookin' all over for ya!"

"What's going on Bidoof?" Alex asked.

"The call's gone out!" Bidoof announced "There's an emergency afoot and we're all needed back at the Guild! I'm jus' here to collect you!"

All four immediately rushed back to the Guild.


	20. Searching the Desert

_**Another long chapter. Not that much action in this one but I hope I did well. This passes the 50 thousand word point of my novelization.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 19: Searching the Desert for Time

Bidoof, Dusknoir, and Team Long Ears arrived at the Guild to find everyone crowded around the outlaw board.

"What's happened? We heard there's an emergency?" Eve called over the noise. As they pressed through the crowd, they saw Chatot looking pained and the Guildmaster looked miserable for the first time Alex had ever seen.

"Another time gear has been stolen!" someone yelled.

Eve wilted as she heard this.

"Which one was stolen…?" she said, though Alex judged by her tone that she didn't really want to know.

"It… it…" Chatot tried to speak but he shook his head, unable to say the words. Chatot speechless was a rare occurrence and Alex knew this news was grave if he couldn't say it.

_Wait… no… it wasn't-?_

Eve was just drawing the same conclusion.

"It… it wasn't the one at Fogbound Lake was it?" she asked, clearly hoping for a "no" as an answer.

"Yes… it was!" Sunflora responded "Someone went to Fogbound Lake, took down Uxie and stole the time gear there!"

Their hearts sank… they had promised not to tell anyone and yet someone had found out somehow anyway.

"No… no one told anyone the secret did they?" Eve mumbled sadly.

All the apprentices reacted with outrage to this and Eve winced.

"Sorry! Sorry! A stupid question!" she cried.

"Well, it's no wonder you'd think that though!" Sunflora pointed out "What with how this happened so soon after our expedition!"

"Wait a moment." Dusknoir said, clearly confused "I thought that the guild's expedition to Fogbound Lake turned up nothing. I did not know there was a time gear there…"

Wigglytuff sadly apologized to Dusknoir for the lie and explained the circumstances of their promise.

"Hey hey! What I really don't like," Corphish said angrily "is that the wonderful view up there is ruined now! I want to take down that thief for this!"

"What I don't like is that we promised Uxie we wouldn't tell," Sunflora added "but now, even though no one did, I don't feel like I could face him after this…"

Chatot finally looked up from his aggrieved state.

"Officer Magnezone has already taken Uxie into protective custody and has gotten a description of the thief."

Bidoof jittered "Well then, out with it! What kinda thief are we dealin' with here?"

"The thief's profile has been posted on the outlaw board already. Take a look."

The four (Dusknoir, Bidoof, Alex, and his partner) stepped up to the outlaw board and looked at the central picture… which depicted Grovyle's face.

_So this is the thief…  
><em>…_Why does he look familiar?_

"We didn't tell but this thief still found the lake and stole the time gear… we failed Uxie…" Eve moaned…

Then an earthquake set in and everyone looked around. All eyes soon settled on the Guildmaster who was apparently getting angry. A moment later, the quake stopped as Wigglytuff seemed to explode.

"**YOOM-TAH!**" He yelled rather fiercely as he jumped into the air. Chatot and Loudred, who were closest jumped back in surprise.

Wigglytuff then glared about at the others present.

"Alright!" He yelled, his arms up, his face one of fierce anger "We're going after that Grovyle! All Guild activity is going to be focused on catching that outlaw!" he declared loudly and furiously.

All the apprentices responded with a determined** "Yeah!"** There were absolutely no objections.

Dusknoir spoke up.

"I believe I understand the situation… I shall assist with the capture of this Grovyle."

Murmurs of awe swept the apprentices, encouraged by having such a strong explorer present to help.

_I guess he's just helping us through helping the guild with this… he did say he was giving us his full support…_ Alex thought quietly.

"Everyone shall go to town to prepare." Chatot announced "The Guildmaster, Dusknoir and myself will convene to plan out our search methods. When everyone has returned, we will explain our plan of attack. Dismissed!"

o0o

Alex and Eve stocked up on various items and brought other items at Kecleon Market. Alex found, to his disappointment, that he had used up the last of their violent seeds at Amp Plains and the Market held none. They were fairly rare seeds it seemed.

However, with how he was feeling, Alex figured he might not need one anyways.

They quickly returned to the guild and Chatot explained what everyone was going to do.

"First of all, we know that wherever there is a time gear, Grovyle is going to be there at some point. Therefore, our plan is to find the remaining time gears and then proceed to protect them. Thus the three of us have picked a few different locations that we think might be hiding a time gear. I will separate each of you into search parties and you will explore the areas and if you find a time gear, protect it at all costs."

Everyone bristled with tension as they awaited the organization of the groups.

"First, Corphish and Loudred, you will be exploring the Eastern Forest… I trust you can figure out where that is…" he said, the name of the location making it obvious.

"Next, Sunflora, Bidoof, and Dugtrio, you three will be searching Crystal Cave to the north-east, east of Amp Plains."

"Roger!" Bidoof nodded and his two partners also nodded in agreement.

"And last, Alex and Eve, you will be searching the Northern Desert. Open your wonder map."

They did so and Chatot pointed to an area that was obscured by clouds on the map, which was indeed to the north. Alex had noticed unexplored areas on the map were thus hidden. Fogbound Lake had been obscured as well but was now perfectly visible on the map ever since the expedition.

"The dry land starts here so the desert is beyond that point. Travel carefully and pack accordingly." Chatot warned.

"What about us?" Diglett asked, referring to himself, Chimecho and the others who hadn't been mentioned yet.

"The rest of you will be staying here at the guild. We can't very well leave it _completely_ abandoned, even now." Chatot said reasonably.

"Besides," Chimecho added "We've got jobs here at the guild that are just as important."

"That is the plan! Guildmaster if you will dismiss the guild." Chatot said turning to Wigglytuff. The Guildmaster though remained standing in place, his eyes staring straight ahead.

_Oh no... he didn't... please tell me he hasn't..._

"Guildmaster?" Chatot said uncertainly drawing close to his leader. It quickly became evident that the Guildmaster had been dozing the entire time… with his eyes wide open. Alex wanted to slap his forehead in exasperation.

Chatot had a moment of silent panic and started trying to get the Guildmaster's attention frantically as the apprentices waited.

After a moment, Wigglytuff blinked sleepily and seemed to realize Chatot was trying to get his attention. Upon realizing he was awake, the bird started to explain where they were in proceedings when Wigglytuff abruptly exploded vocally again, knocking a thoroughly surprised Chatot clean on his back.

"_Right everyone! We're going to catch Grovyle_!" Wigglytuff roared and everyone cheered again in response, then marched out. Chatot remained on his back, stunned and his mouth agape in shock while everyone left.

Dusknoir stopped Alex and his partner just outside the guild.

"Be careful in the desert you two… that desert frequently has sandstorms. You might want to pack some orbs to affect the weather if things get too rough. Good luck." He then left them to their task.

o0o

Team Long Ears arrived at the desert and double-checked their equipment.

"Alright, let's search for a time gear then." Eve said with nod and they marched out onto the sand.

Alex found himself preferring Amp Plains in a hurry compared to the desert. The air was hot and dry with the sun blazing overhead.

The local cubone proved to be troublesome for Alex. Cubone looked like small, bipedal, skull-wearing creatures that wielded bone clubs. Similar to electrikes, they somehow attracted any electricity near by to them, where they absorbed the shock without harm. Alex was forced to either let Eve take them down or resort to physical attacks. Getting clubbed by one proved a very painful experience for Alex.

Then, not far into the desert, they came across their first sandstorm. The sand was blinding, Alex frequently had to spit out grains of sand that flew into his mouth, and he was reduced to squinting ahead unless he wanted sand in his eyes. The wind very frequently also picked up in these storms, and when it did, it was like getting hit with a sand-blaster: a mildly painful experience.

The residents of the desert, being adapted to the environment, weren't bothered nearly as much by the sand and the sandshrew they ran across even seemed to vanish into the storm at times.

Alex and Eve managed to come across small oases regularly so water turned out not to be a major concern, much to Alex's relief.

Alex couldn't keep track of time with all the sandstorms but was grateful when, after getting out of yet another sandstorm, he saw the sun going down, bathing the entire desert in a ruddy hue of light. Things cooled and sandstorms became less frequent.

He rummaged in the bag to pull out an apple… and got an icky, sludge-covered mess.

"Must have been that trap back there…" Eve said miserably, looking at it in distaste.

Alex's stomach turned just thinking about trying to down what once was a perfectly good apple. Then again, he had had the wisdom to bring a stamina band on this trip, which he had been wearing the entire time. He had figured that if he was going into a desert for a long period of time, he'd be getting hungry frequently. A stamina band basically somehow slowed down his metabolism and allowed food to stick with him longer, meaning he would get hungry slower.

Alex tossed the spoiled apple aside and rummaged in the bag some more and pulled out another apple that had remained in good condition. He ate that and they continued on under the setting sun.

Plenty of ground and steel-type pokemon inhabited the desert, and Alex had relied heavily on Eve's assistance throughout the trip. By this time, Eve was clearly becoming exhausted from having to handle most of the fights, the heat of the sun, and other factors of their trip.

"You okay, Eve?" he said concerned for her as he always was when she was under the weather, perhaps literally in this case.

"Yeah… I'm good… I don't think there's too much more to explore anyways." Eve said "But if you think you could take a few more battles… I could catch my breath and take a bit of time to rest."

Alex agreed, though he knew that he wasn't much better off against most of the desert residents.

o0o

As luck would have it for them, Eve had been right and they came to a clearing. Alex had been about to just waltz right out onto the sand but Eve put out a paw and stopped him then pointed at spots of sand where the sand was making large sinkholes.

"Quicksand… I don't think we should continue… even if we could." She said simply.

Alex looked around… there wasn't anything up ahead except rock cliffs and plenty of quicksand waiting to suck anyone down if they were foolish enough to walk out on it like he had been about to do.

Then he found himself looking at the rocks more and at the placement of various objects…

_This all… wait a minute… this all looks familiar to me…  
><em>_This is just like at Foggy Forest!  
><em>_I've never been here, I'd swear it but it feels so familiar!_

"Hey, Alex!" Eve yelled and Alex jumped as he was yanked out of his thoughts "You off daydreaming again? C'mon, there's nothing here, let's head back to the guild." Eve said and, forcibly turning him around, proceeded to push him back the way they'd come with her head.

o0o

They arrived at the guild last of all the teams sent out and it was late. Eve was surprised and disappointed at the news of the results of everyone else's search efforts.

"What? No one found anything?"

Corphish shrugged.

"We searched the Eastern Forest… but really, all that's there are the trees." Bidoof also spoke up.

"Looked around Crystal Cave… mighty pretty cave, I tell ya but not a sign of a time gear there, nope. So pretty though I couldn't help pickin' up a crystal on the way." Sunflora blinked and stared as Bidoof turned his small prize over in his paws.

"Ooh, I didn't even notice you pick that up!" Dugtrio glared at Bidoof

"We turned up nothing there… and yet you have the nerve to go collecting souvenirs?" Bidoof shied away from Dugtrio, apologizing as the group of moles yelled at him "_Who do you think you are?_"

Dusknoir looked downcast and Chatot, just as disappointed.

"Hmmm… I thought those locations held promise but it appears I was mistaken… this is my fault…" Dusknoir said, shaking his head in shame.

"No, no, absolutely not!" Chatot said, quickly disagreeing "It was only with your help we chose those locations in the first place!"

"Yet we have failed to turn up anything… that is a fact." Dusknoir said, looking mildly frustrated. Chatot sighed.

"Very well, we will have to call it a night for today and renew our efforts tomorrow." The bird announced.

They all had a quick dinner and headed to bed.

o0o

The next day, Chatot announced their new plans for how to proceed.

"Dusknoir and I are discussing further ideas for locations to check. All of you will proceed with personal investigations for today. That is all!"

With that, the morning meeting broke and everyone headed out as Chatot and Dusknoir turned to each other and started discussing plans.

"So… where shall we check, Alex?" Eve said, turning to her partner. Alex was lost in his own thoughts again, already thinking of yesterday.

_That location felt familiar to me… just like Foggy Forest… maybe there's something else there we missed yesterday…_

"Alex? Hellooo!" Eve said and giggled when Alex tore himself away from his thoughts to pay attention to her again. "What's with you lately? You don't usually go off into la-la land like that."

"Sorry..." Alex responded, "I was just thinking about that quicksand area we were at yesterday."

Eve's eyebrows popped up.

"Yeah? What about that?"

"That place felt familiar to me like at Foggy Forest… which is why I think there might be something there…"

Eve considered his words for several moments. Then she nodded.

"Alright then, it's off to the desert again then. Let's go take another look!"

They packed for the desert and headed out.

o0o

Team Long Ears used their wonder map to take a short cut through the desert and arrived quickly at the quicksand zone.

"Alright… we're here…" Eve commented, glancing around "But I don't see anything here…" she said "It's perfectly empty…"

Alex looked around for himself, scanning the area carefully… nothing…

_I thought I'd find something here but… I have to admit: Eve's right… there's nothing here… just quicksand and besides that…there's nothing…_

The words came across to Alex as strange though and he looked at the quicksand again, an idea coming to mind. It struck him as crazy though.

_Wait… there's nothing? Really?_

"Eve…" he said, his heart speeding up… his partner turned to him, listening.

"I think there might be more here… under the sand. We need to jump into the quicksand."

Eve gaped, dumbstruck by the suggestion.

"Are you serious? _Jump into the quicksand?_ Do you _realize _how insane that sounds?" she said with mild incredulity. Alex found himself agreeing with her again.

Then the similarity to a previous situation came to him.

"About as insane as jumping at a waterfall… that might have just a rock wall on the other side…"

Eve blinked and soon understood. She nodded.

"Alright." She said firmly "I trust you. I've trusted you this far. So let's do it. Let's jump in that quicksand and find a time gear."

They faced the quicksand and Alex prayed he wasn't mistaken… if he was… he didn't want to think about the result if he was wrong.

"On three…" Eve said "One… two…" Alex swallowed nervously "Three!" they charged and jumped into the middle of one of the sinkholes. He had seconds to suck in a breath of air before the soft sand quickly swallowed both him and Eve.

About ten, maybe twenty seconds of darkness and the sound of flowing sand directly in his ears and Alex started to wonder if they were doomed to drown in sand… a victim of his own idiotic idea.

Then suddenly he fell several feet and landed hard on his rear.

"Ouch!" he yelped, warm, dry… air all around him. Eve fell from the ceiling too a moment later and landed hard on her feet.

He looked around… they were in a cavern, a rock ceiling overhead with small amounts of sand slowly pouring down into the room. He got up, and looked around more... he couldn't believe there was a cave under the sand like this but here it was...

"You were right, Alex!" Eve cheered "Under the quicksand! C'mon, the time gear is waiting for us!"

Alex nodded, euphoria flooding him. They charged into the cave, determined to unearth its secrets.


	21. Reunion

_**As always, I am grateful for the few readers I get. I know I can't please everyone but I thank those of you who support my efforts.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chatper 20: Reunion

The quicksand cave held many more residents than the surface of the desert had. This made sense, as some pokemon would obviously prefer the cooler chambers of the underground than being up in the blazing sunlight.

This made Alex and Eve's journey into the cave that much more difficult as they repeatedly encountered unwelcoming residents of the cave.

Perhaps the biggest threat Alex saw down there at first was the evolved sandslash. The yellow and brown pokemon resembled a hedgehog, even on two legs, with very sharp tunneling claws. Sand would often fill the air like a sandstorm in the cave and the sandslash seemed to blend into the flying sand at times, making them annoyingly difficult to hit.

This, combined with the fact that they were ground-types, made them a dangerously common threat to Alex.

There was also bizarre, cocoon-like pokemon made of rock that Eve told him were called pupitar. Fortunately, these were often asleep, apparently storing up energy to evolve and… hatch. If they had been awake, Alex would've also found them aggravating from their overall extreme toughness.

The air remained warm even after they had gone several floors down. Once again, Alex felt the stamina band he was still wearing saved him from a lot of trouble with getting hungry. The cave had no food to offer, except bits that were rotten and decayed from their time in the dry heat. Alex had no desire to try eating any of that.

Both of them were relieved when they reached a spot that seemed to be clear of enemies and could take a while to rest up.

"How deep does this go anyways?" Alex wondered aloud.

"We're already a good ways in, I think if there's a time gear here, it's not too far ahead." Eve responded.

"Better hurry up before Grovyle beats us there. He might've already been through here." Alex said, having had a snack and gotten up his energy again to continue.

"Alright, let's find that time gear!" Eve nodded and they continued on their way down.

o0o

The deeper parts of the cave proved to be cooler now that they were well away from the surface. However, there were hippopotas, which as the name somewhat implied, were hippo-like pokemon that seemed to be made of sand. Through some method Alex couldn't determine, these pokemon walked in a personal sandstorm that swept the corridors of the cavern. Sandslash weren't any less common this deep down and with the hippo-generated sandstorms, they were nothing less than very annoying to even hit.

Eve even took out one of the hippo pokemon but the sandstorm wouldn't subside.

"Ugh… let's just find our way down and get to that time gear before I scream out of frustration…" Alex groaned and they plodded on through the flying sand, withstanding the sand-blaster treatment.

Then they encountered the king of the quicksand caves: tyranitar.

These were massive, rocky dinosaur-like pokemon that apparently had come from the pupitar they had seen earlier on. They weren't any happier to see Team Long Ears trespassing in their home than any other pokemon.

First one they came across and needed to get past, Alex threw a sleep seed at it and they didn't bother fighting, they went around it while it snoozed.

Another one they encountered later on Alex used a wonder orb on and, despite its size and tremendous weight, the orb's power launched the tyranitar backwards and was slammed it into the wall behind it. Alex and Eve fled down to another floor before it could chase them down again.

"I'll be grateful never to come here again…" Alex panted as they arrived at the next floor to be confronted with a Monster House, where several residents of the cave rained down on them from the ceiling. Alex noticed that most weren't ground-types through some stroke of fortune and decided to take advantage of that. Summoning up his electricity, Alex unleashed a blast of electricity all around and Eve ducked down to avoid it. The ground-types in the group of enemies winced from the slight amount of pain this violent shock gave them but others weren't so durable and went down fast. Eve helped mop up the rest, biting and slamming with all the force she could muster.

They left that room, worn out but determined to get to the end of the cave.

o0o

They headed into another passage that went down and a sight they didn't expect in quicksand cave greeted them.

They stepped into the room and saw a wide, pristine lake, sitting tranquilly underground.

"Wow…" Eve murmured "this is so beautiful…"

It wasn't Fogbound Lake, Alex had to admit but the deep yet beautiful contrast of the lake to the cave held a certain charm. They soon noticed the light shining from the center of the lake.

"Is that it? Is that the time gear?" Eve said, glancing at her partner.

"Probably…"

"Let's get a closer look."

They stepped forward and immediately halted as someone spoke.

"_What? Who's there?"_ A female voice yelled, and it sounded like it was in their heads.

"Huh?" Both explorers halted and looked around for the source.

"_Who are you and what are doing here?"_ The voice said after a moment.

"We're Team Long Ears and we're looking a time gear." Eve explained to the air.

"_Go back!_" the voice yelled.

"Wait! But-!" Eve started. There was a loud splash as a pokemon burst from the lake.

"I'm Mespirit! I won't let you take the time gear!" she yelled and charged.

Alex realized quickly that Mespirit had to be a guardian like Uxie. They looked much alike.

Mespirit was also predominantly teal, was about the same size as the two of them, and she had two tails. However, Mespirit's head was a shade of magenta, wasn't so dome-like, and her golden eyes were wide open and almost enchanting. Her head trailed several tendrils like dreadlocks, giving her head an appearance of wearing a headdress of some sort.

Alex barely had time to take in this appearance before Mespirit was in their faces and Alex's mind was slammed hard by psychic force. He cried out from the sudden pain.

Eve quickly reacted in his defense, biting Mespirit who yelped and recoiled from the attack.

"Wait!" Eve yelled but Alex reacted to the previous psychic attack by unleashing an electric shock at the guardian and Mespirit withstood it. Eve cried out as she also experienced a psychic attack and, trying to get Mespirit to stop, she threw some sand from the ground at her. Alex jumped and slammed Mespirit over the head with his tail, and the guardian was knocked straight into the ground.

"Will you wait a minute?" Eve yelled desperately at everyone present "We're not here the steal the time gear!" she said to Mespirit.

Mespirit hovered back into place in front of them, panting and already worn down from the frantic fight they had just gone through.

"**Don't…lie!**" she said fiercely "I know what happened at Fogbound Lake! Uxie told me through telepathy!"

Both explorers blinked, astonished at this news.

"Uxie told you… through telepathy?" Eve said, blinking. Fogbound Lake had to be clear across the continent from here and they were underground too. The fact that they could evidently communicate like that was nothing short of amazing.

"He told me the time gear from Fogbound Lake had been stolen! That was you two, wasn't it?" Mespirit said, very accusatory.

"It wasn't us!" Alex said immediately.

"Then who's the one responsible?" Mespirit said, thoroughly riled up and still breathing hard. Alex had been about to answer when someone behind them did it for him.

"That… would probably be me."

Alex and his partner whirled to face the figure of Grovyle directly behind them. In person, the grass-type was rather imposing and they stepped back. Mespirit hovered forward though.

"That was you?" she said, evidently looking for confirmation.

"Yes…" Grovyle said calmly "I have no quarrel with any of you so if you'll just move out of the way…"

"No!" Mespirit said as fiercely as before and got ready to fight, even though she was already worn out.

Grovyle sighed.

"Very well…" he then suddenly lashed out with one hand and smacked Mespirit aside. The guardian toppled aside and fell to the ground, unable to put up a fight.

"You already lost one fight… don't push it." Grovyle said bluntly and started toward the lake. Alex and Eve both stepped into his path.

"You're not getting past us!" Eve declared.

"Alright… sorry about this…" Grovyle said calmly. He lashed out at both of them and Alex couldn't react fast enough to avoid the blindingly-fast attack. They were both knocked sprawling to the ground.

"He's too fast!" Eve grunted, unable to get up quickly enough as Grovyle walked to the edge of the lake and dived in.

Mespirit was still working herself up off the ground.

"Sorry I accused the two of you…" she said, she sounded very sincere "He must be the thief that stole the time gear from Uxie."

Moments later, what felt like an earthquake started as all three managed to get to their feet.

"Oh no…" the guardian said quietly.

"What's going on?" Eve yelled over the rumble.

Then they saw a wave of energy sweeping the walls of the cave, leaving everything a dull gray in color behind it.

"That thief has taken the time gear! Time's freezing rapidly here!" Mespirit yelled "Run! Or you'll be trapped in time!"

They all fled as quickly as possible and managed to escape before the energy-wave overtook them.

o0o

Any chance to catch Grovyle lost, Team Long Ears escorted Mespirit to the Guild and Magnezone took her into protective custody as well after hearing out where they had found the time gear and how it had been stolen. Everyone at the guild watched these proceeding and Chatot hopped forward afterwards.

"There was a lake under the desert? That's simply amazing!" the bird said, mystified.

"Yes… but we failed to protect the time gear, which isn't any better than we were before." Eve moaned.

"It's amazing though that you found a time gear there of all places!" Sunflora commented, sounding impressed.

"A shame we're back to square-one…" Corphish said sadly.

"Yes… we have no idea where Grovyle will strike next…" Dugtrio said gravely. Dusknoir, who was also present, hovered forward.

"Maybe not…" he said, looking thoughtful "We know the location where two time gears were stolen. In both cases, they were at lakes and those lakes were in highly unusual locations. One deep underground in a desert, and one high up on a plateau in the forest."

"Oh yeah!" Eve said, remembering their conversation with Mespirit "Mespirit told us that Uxie had told her what happened at Fogbound Lake. They communicated through telepathy!"

Everyone was astonished at this news and some were amazed at the ability. Dusknoir nodded though.

"It is said that Uxie and Mespirit represent knowledge and emotion respectively… but there are three pokemon that represent the spiritual world. I believe the third one's name is Azelf. It is my belief that wherever the last time gear is, Azelf will be guarding that one and it too, will be at a lake."

"Ooh, ooh!" Sunflora hopped excitedly as she picked up the train of logic "And that lake will somewhere unusual as well, right? So maybe there's a lake hidden in one of the locations we explored already, like Crystal Cave or the Forest!"

"Ah…" Dusknoir had a wide smile "That gives me an idea. Bidoof."  
>Bidoof looked a little startled, being called upon by Dusknoir but he responded confidently.<p>

"Yup yup… what'cha want with me?" he said, curious.

"That crystal you picked up at the Cave… could I borrow it a moment?"

Bidoof stepped back.

"Oof! My crystal? That's my personal little treasure from the cave!" he said as if Dusknoir were going to mug him for it. Dusknoir gave a sympathetic smile.

"I understand… rest assured I'm not going to take it from you or anything of the sort. All I want… is for you, Alex to touch it."

Alex's eyes flashed as he realized what Dusknoir was after.

_The Dimensional Scream…_

"If there is a time gear there, touching that crystal may trigger the Dimensional Scream. It may trigger a vision!"

The guild as a whole being unaware of Alex's ability, this drew a few confused looks from the group.

"The Dimensional SCREAM? What's THAT?" Loudred said. Eve coughed shyly to get attention and explained, again about Alex's occasional dizzy-spells that were followed by visions of the past or future.

The confusion turned to wonderment.

"So Bidoof, will you let us use your crystal?" Dusknoir asked again, ignoring the amazed murmurs. Everyone turned and stared expectantly at Bidoof who crumbled under the pressure.

"Oof! Well, I can't go against a reason like that." he muttered and walked over to Alex and held out the small crystal that had been his prize from the cave.

Alex breathed deep, trying to calm himself as he braced himself for a vision from the crystal.

_Here goes… what will I see? I'd better concentrate…_

He placed one paw on the crystal and immediately the dizziness set in.

_Here it comes… a dimensional scream…_

A flash.

He was watching a scene at a location filled with crystals. There was a figure that looked much like Uxie and Mespirit, only with a blue head, panting and weak on the ground as Grovyle walked up to the water behind him.

"_No… you can't…_" The figure grunted weakly

"_There it is! The time gear! I'll take it!_" Grovyle said determinedly.

Another flash abruptly brought Alex back to the guild.

"Did you see anything, Alex?" Eve asked as Alex blinked and recovered from the vision.

Alex nodded and related to the entire guild how he had seen Grovyle walking past a downed figure, about to steal the time gear.

"Oof! I find it hard to believe you got all that from this little crystal…" Bidoof said, amazed.

"Do you think the figure you saw was Azelf?" Sunflora asked.

Reflecting on what he'd seen, Alex was pretty sure with the similarities he'd seen, the figure had to be Azelf. He nodded.

"I have a question too, Alex." Chimecho said "Was that vision you had one of the past… or the future?"

Alex found himself stumped at this point.

_Come to think of it… it's never clear at the moment whether the vision is of the past or the future._

_I only ever figure it out from context and some guessing._

"Sorry, I don't know…" Alex said shaking his head.

"If that's the case…" Dugtrio said sadly "It may very well be a past event. That time gear may have already been stolen."

Worry swept the guild members. Dusknoir "stepped" up again though.

"Perhaps… or perhaps not." he said confidently "Eve, you said that Mespirit had been contacted by Uxie and told her that the time gear had been stolen, correct?" Eve nodded in response.

"Did she mention anything about Azelf?"

Eve shook her head this time.

"No, the first time I heard about Azelf was right here from you Dusknoir, sir."

Dusknoir pounded his fist into the palm of his hand as he recognized the implications.

"Then there's still hope! If that were a past event, then Mespirit would have mentioned Azelf. Since she didn't, the time gear must still be there! Furthermore, and this is a sure thing, since that crystal triggered a Dimensional Scream, there must be a time gear related to Crystal Cave! If we move out now, we might be able to stop Grovyle before he steals that time gear!"

Alex didn't completely catch all the logic of the statement and if he had, he might've questioned some of it. However, he and everyone else was preoccupied with the main point: there was a time gear at Crystal Cave and they needed to move out to find and protect it!

With an excited clamor, the apprentices immediately made for the exit, Crystal Cave their destination.


	22. Rushed Defenses

_**Another chapter, another accomplishment.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 21: Rushed Defenses

Everyone arrived at Crystal Cave at varying times. Some were lagging behind and others had already hurried into the cave by the time Team Long Ears got there. They had all prepared in town as quickly as possible and then hurried to the Cave.

"Alright, let's just start with going as deep as possible." Eve said "Wherever the time gear may be in here, it's going to be deep down."

Alex found this made sense and they started into the cave, promptly looking for passages going down.

They encountered residents of the cave, like in any other mystery dungeon. These residents were rather varied but they occasionally came across graveler, the evolved form of geodude, which were basically ragged, ball-shaped walking hunks of rock with legs and two pairs of arms. Not that those arms saw all that much use (except for throwing rocks) as the walking rocks liked to try and roll into the explorers.

Another resident also were large, snake pokemon called seviper. The name pretty clearly indicated they were vipers and they also sported a blade on their tail, which they attempted to lash out with sometimes if the snake didn't bite first.

Alex was happy that there weren't nearly so many types to give him problems here.

As they went down, Alex was reminded of Bidoof's comments on the cave a day or two back.

"Mighty pretty cave" felt like an understatement to Alex.

The cave started off blue but turned a shade of magenta or pink as they went down. The crystals lining the walls glistened with traces of moisture and the light gently reflected off the walls, making the trip through the cave somewhat enchanting.

"Alex, we need to keep focused on going down. We can sight-see when the time gear is _safe_." Eve said pointedly when her partner got a little too sidetracked by the sights.

"Uh… sorry…" Alex mumbled, somewhat embarrassed and tore his eyes off the walls to focus on what lay ahead.

As they arrived at deeper parts of the cave, donphan started appearing as well, which were bulky, ground-type elephant pokemon. Alex had actually seen the younger phanpy before in other dungeons but the fact that the little elephant evolved into this muscular thing somewhat intimidated him.

One of these massive elephants then curled into a ball and shot at him rather fast for something so big, ripping across the ground.

"Rollout! Move!" Alex yelled and they both dived aside to avoid being turned into pancakes under the rolling elephant's weight. The elephant came to a halt behind them and turned to regain its bearings on where they were. Eve lunged forward and bit it as Alex zipped forward and struck at it as well. It didn't get a chance to attack again.

They continued on down, fighting more enemies and Alex quickly found himself getting stronger. He knew he'd need the extra strength to fight off Grovyle from the time gear at the bottom.

o0o

It turned out though that there was more than just fighting involved to get down there.

When Alex and Eve stepped into an empty room after going down, they looked around and found it to be a dead-end.

"This is the bottom? There must be a secret here…" Eve said looking around.

The most obvious objects in the room were three very large crystals that all towered over them. The crystals were bright and each shined a beautiful color. The crystals stood in a triangle around an empty space.

"Check it out… they're so pretty…" Eve murmured as she walked up to one. She put a paw on it, feeling the smooth crystal and jumped back startled when the crystal flashed and suddenly turned from yellow, to an aquatic blue.

"Whoa! Look at this Alex!" she called over and Alex looked over from his own search for a way down to watch as she put a paw on the crystal again. The crystal flashed and went from blue to orange. Alex blinked, amazed.

"Try it on the others, I bet they change colors too." Eve said. Alex approached a crystal and touched it. The red crystal turned from red to yellow.

_Interesting… they have a certain variety of colors… I wonder what it's all from?_

Alex touched it again a few more times, having some fun turning the crystal colors. However, he started to wonder how they were supposed to proceed.

"I think these crystals are the key to going ahead." Eve commented.

_Okay… yeah that makes sense… but what do we do with them?_

He went and touched another one and immediately got a bit more than he expected.

The third crystal changed colors as well, as he expected. But this was also accompanied by a case of vertigo.

_Whoa! A scream._

Alex steadied himself as the vision set in.

A flash and everything was dark.

"_Azelf is the being of will-power. Willpower is the force that drives us.  
><em>_It's a unifying power…  
><em>_So to move forward… We need to 'unify' the crystals. We need to have them all the same color!  
><em>_Now…What's the color of willpower? _That's_ the question. It's the color of Azelf's spirit. But what is that color?"_

Another flash and Alex shook his head as he reoriented himself.

_That was new… no, wait a minute… this has happened before… back at Foggy Forest…_

_I still couldn't get a good grasp of the voice… too much echoing. It still seems familiar to me though… why?_

Alex shook himself though to get his mind back to the matter at-hand and Eve noticed the behavior.

"Hey Alex, you see something? A Dimensional Scream?"

Alex glanced back at her and nodded, then turned back to the crystal before him…

_Okay… so to go forward… the voice said we need to turn the crystals the same color._

Alex found himself hung up on the question the voice itself had made: what was the color of willpower?

_The color of Azelf's spirit… is it clear as crystal? No wait… maybe the color of cold water…?_

Eve watched as Alex mulled over the problem.

"I guess you've got this so… go ahead." She said with a shrug.

Alex touched the crystal and watched it shift colors. It looped after about five colors and it was when he stopped that he understood the answer. He stopped on blue… and he immediately remembered his previous vision of Azelf. Azelf's head had been this exact same shade of blue.

Alex grinned as he realized the answer.

He ran over to another crystal and tapped it until it flashed blue. Leaving it that color, he ran over to the third crystal next to Eve and tapped it as well.

It flashed blue. Alex backed off and took Eve with him. She looked confused at first.

Then the crystals flashed, and a sound resonated from all of them. Suddenly, streams of electricity shot from all three and connected in the center!

"Whoa!" Eve yelped "Back up a bit more, this looks dangerous!" and they backed off more.

Then with a low, rumbling roar a massive crystal emerged from the ground in the center between the three crystals, electricity arcing around it! There was a massive hole in the middle of the crystal, a tunnel going down. The electricity soon cleared and the way stood open before them.

"Alright! Way to go, Alex!" Eve whooped. Alex couldn't get the grin off his face and his ear flopped over his eye, making him look even sillier.

"C'mon! The time gear's waiting down there! Let's hurry!" Eve said and half-dragged him forward as he swept his ear back out of his eye.

o0o

The deeper portions of the cave were filled with water and the two of them were coming across water-types now, much to Alex's entertainment. He felt it had been a while since he'd been able to make very good use of his electrical abilities and he admittedly found he experienced a certain euphoria unloading his electricity at an opponent. The one water-type they came across were the otter-like floatzel, which proved to be very fast and Alex took this as an opportunity to practice against Grovyle's speed. There were plenty of floatzel to be found in the cave. He needed to be able to match that speed if they were going to take on that grass-type and the otters were very good practice.

Enemies aside, the cave seemed to have just gotten more beautiful as they had gone deeper. The water down here was as blue as the crystals around it and when it wasn't reflecting the colors of the walls, it was extremely clean, very clear, and nothing less than beautiful.

It was also getting cold.

They soon reached deeper parts of the cave and found themselves facing glalie at times, which were ball-shaped ice-types that had a face like a hockey-mask. It was the first time Alex could remember that they had encounter ice-types.

They handled the ice-type whenever it appeared without too much trouble and continued on their way down.

o0o

Upon entering another passage going down, they arrived at a pathway that went along what was clearly a large lake, lined with crystals.

"Wow…" Eve was entranced at first by the beauty of the lake but then she noticed a peninsula

"Hey! I see someone there! Let's hurry over there!"

They ran along the pathway going along the water and they arrived at the pathway that went straight out onto the peninsula. The sight they saw happening on it, made their hearts bottom out.

_This is exactly what I saw in my vision!_

A figure that Alex knew had to be Azelf was on the ground, panting and Grovyle was behind him, about to go into the lake. They were too late but they raced forward, hoping for a miracle.

o0o

Up ahead, Grovyle's heart was racing with excitement (and some exhaustion from fighting Azelf) as he was finally faced with the final time gear and it was only feet from him now.

Azelf looked much like Uxie and Mespirit but had a blue triangular head. "The others… told me about you…" the guardian grunted.

That bit of news distracted Grovyle, who glanced back without turning around.

"You know about me?" Grovyle murmured, with some wonderment.

"Grovyle… the thief…" Azelf panted "I thought… I would be able… to take you on… myself…"

Azelf smirked before he continued.

"But I thought… there was still the possibility… I might lose… so I prepared a fail-safe."

Grovyle whirled.

"What?" he immediately was searching for a trap!

Azelf's golden eyes flashed and the ground shook.

"What have you done?" Grovyle demanded, as he steadied himself, ready for something to attack him.

With the sound of blades being drawn, innumerable crystals sprouted with a sharp cutting sound from the lake and didn't stop sprouting until the lake was covered in a sheet of sharp, hard, bristling, and very unforgiving crystal.

"The lake… it's covered with crystal…" Grovyle murmured in shock as he quickly realized the problem Azelf had forced upon him.

Azelf smiled.

"Even for my life… I'll make sure… you never get… the time gear…" he breathed and passed out.

Grovyle's excitement had turned to dread, which turned to fury. Grovyle whirled on the Azelf again, livid.

"Azelf! I _need_ that time gear! Even if I have to kill you to get it!" Grovyle snarled, even though the guardian could no longer hear.

Then the two from the desert lake came charging up and barred his path from Azelf. He was getting tired of these two and their attempts at heroics.

"You're not going to hurt anyone!" the pikachu yelled.

"Move, now! Both of you!" Grovyle said tensely, his fists clenched.

"No!" They both responded adamantly.

"Fine! If you won't move, I'll _make_ you move!" Grovyle said, posing himself to fight.

He rushed at the pikachu first, lashing out with his leaf blades. The mouse pokemon dodged the attack and zapped Grovyle with his electricity, which didn't hurt as bad as it might have if he wasn't resistant to electricity.

Then the eevee bit him and Grovyle slashed at her instead. Her partner jumped at Grovyle's head and spun. The lightning-bolt tail flew around and slapped Grovyle across the face. Though it was relatively small, the tail's stiff bone hurt immensely.

Grovyle turned, evading another biting attack from the eevee and struck at the electric mouse again. The pikachu's speed had definitely improved and Grovyle found himself actually having trouble landing a hit on the pest. The blows he did land on either of them didn't seem to shake them and they were wearing him down.

He was zapped again and Grovyle angrily lunged with his blades. He needed to end this now! He had no time to waste and he was already slightly worn down from fighting Azelf.

The pikachu screamed as Grovyle's attack finally hit, hard. Grovyle turned on the eevee and slammed her as well. She continued to fight but Grovyle struck again and she went down like her partner. Grovyle finally stood, the two adventurers down and just Azelf left.

But Eve wasn't done yet. She stood, despite shaking from weakness and placed herself firmly in front of Azelf's unconscious form.

Grovyle groaned, exasperated.

"Move!" he yelled again, he was already pained enough from the concept of killing Azelf… he did not wish to have any other deaths on his conscience. Killing was not in his nature and he was only willing to do it if he absolutely had to...

It seemed her partner wouldn't give up either, because despite having a bleeding wound across his chest, he also worked himself to his feet and stood, guarding her as well as Azelf. Grovyle sighed, shaking his head.

"If you're not going to move, I'm just going to have to kill you to get you out of my way…" he said, hoping the words alone would get them to move but these two were firm in their resolve.

Grovyle closed his eyes tight… he swore would not be able to sleep for the rest of his time alive after this.

"For the time gear!" he finally yelled and struck!

o0o

_I won't let him hurt Azelf… or Eve… I won't let him hurt _any_one so long as I'm standing._

That was the one thought on Alex's mind and he shut his eyes, bracing himself for death as Grovyle came at him.

There was a dull thump and Alex felt sweet relief sweep over him at hearing Dusknoir's voice a moment later.

"Team Long Ears. Please! Allow me to handle this!"

Alex glanced up, opening his eyes to see Dusknoir had blocked Grovyle's attack.

Dusknoir then punched Grovyle across the face, sending the surprised grass-type tumbling to the ground.

"You!" Grovyle spat as he got up again "You're persistent, aren't you?"

"Hello, Grovyle. Are you ready?" Dusknoir said, ready to fight. Alex noticed the familarity in Dusknoir's tones.

_Wait… do they know each other?_ Alex thought as they posed to fight.

"Dusknoir… I'm surprised you found this place… but if you want to fight… c'mon." Grovyle responded calmly.

Dusknoir let out a low laugh.

"Ah, Grovyle but are you ready, _for this_?" he said somewhat melodramatically and he raised his arms up, wide. Alex heard something that sounded like metal from Dusknoir but he couldn't see what from behind.

Both combatants struck and there was a sudden flash of light!

Then Grovyle had vanished. Dusknoir looked around and then cursed.

"Blast that infernal Grovyle!" Dusknoir snarled in frustration "_No one escapes me!_" he then vanished himself and Alex was left alone with Azelf and Eve, who had passed out from relief.

_They're both… gone… how do they know each other…? Too weak… weak…_

The last thing Alex heard was the voices of the other guild members behind him before darkness claimed him.

o0o

Alex awoke to Chimecho hovering over both of them. He and Eve were back in their bedroom in the guild, and they were each in their beds, bandages tied around their various wounds.

"Hey, take it easy!" Chimecho said as he sat up "We found both of you near Azelf at the lake. You had some horrible wounds. You've been out for several hours now and had everyone worried."

Eve got up as well and spoke.

"Is the time gear still at the lake?" she said, tired even though she had been asleep.

Chimecho bobbed in the air, which was her version of nodding.

"What about Dusknoir?" Alex said, definite concern in his voice.

"He went after Grovyle, we haven't heard from him since…" then Eve gasped.

"What about Azelf?" she said hurriedly.

"He's already up and about here at the guild. Eve… compared to you two, his injuries weren't that severe." Chimecho said, her concern clearly focused on the two of them.

Eve breathed a sigh of relief though and, seeing that they didn't have any more questions, Chimecho continued.

"Now then, I'd better let the rest of the guild know you're alright."

Chimecho shook, sending a ringing sound echoing through the guild (Alex had heard it several times before as she also used it to announce dinner).

"Everyone! They're awake!" Chimecho called.

There was a rumbling and every apprentice in the guild came stampeding into the bedroom. The chatter was immediately about all the concern they had given rise to by being out so long. Bidoof looked ready to cry.

"Everyone… we're okay." Eve giggled, somewhat abashed by the attention.

"But more importantly… there's something that I think is important that we ought to tell you." Alex said. Everyone was immediately curious about the news.

o0o

They moved the group out into the meeting area and Azelf was there to watch.

Alex shared with the guild how Dusknoir and Grovyle seemed to know each other.

"It was evident from what they were saying just as they were about to fight."

Everyone started to chatter again, when an alarm rang through the guild.

Chatot turned towards the sentry post (the hole in the ground).

"Diglett, what's the alarm about?"

Diglett was just outside the hole.

"Deputy Magnemite has an announcement." He then turned to the hole and shouted down it.

"Deputy Magnemite! Please speak loudly and clearly down the grate!"

The deputy's robotic voice echoed into the guild.

"OFFICER MAGNEZONE HAS CALLED A PUBLIC MEETING AT THE SQUARE! HE REQUESTS THAT THE GUILD ALSO ATTEND! DUSKNOIR PLANS TO EXPLAIN SEVERAL MATTERS! THAT IS ALL!"

Everyone glanced at each other and then nodded. They headed out to Treasure Town's town square to the meeting. The news that awaited would be remembered for years to come.


	23. Out of Time

**_The bit from Grovyle's perspective in this chapter is original. It's just my take on how events took place (it's never shown in the game)._**

**_Enjoy._**

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 22: Out of Time

As the Guild walked as a group to the town square, Alex and Eve found themselves walking alongside Azelf, who was hovering along with the group.

"_I heard from the guild members that the two of you protected me back at the lake until Dusknoir showed up…_" Azelf spoke in their minds. The guardian looked a little embarrassed as he was slightly flushed…

"_I suppose I owe the two of you some thanks…_" he gave a small, somewhat timid smile and Alex just returned it with a brighter one of his own.

They arrived at the town square a few minutes later and Uxie and Mespirit were there as well as most of the town residents.

Azelf was overjoyed to see his two companions and joined them.

"You're not hurt?" Mespirit immediately asked him.

"Nope. I'm fine."

"The time gear won't be stolen while you're away?" Uxie asked, Azelf nodded.

"It's under a sheet of crystal. Getting at it _won't_ be easy." He said in a rather smug tone.

Alex could see the relationship the three held between each other… they were more than just guardians of time gears… the three were very close friends.

Dusknoir noticed them in the crowd and called out to them. The crowd parted for him so he could reach them.

"Both of you are recovering well, I presume?" he said, looking at their bandages.

Alex nodded and Eve just smiled.

"What happened to Grovyle?" Eve asked after a moment.

"He escaped…" Dusknoir said, an edge in his voice. Alex wondered what Grovyle had done to get Dusknoir so angry and that brought him to his own question:

"Dusknoir, sir… back at the cave, you and Grovyle seemed to know each other. What-?" Alex was cut-off by Officer Magnezone though, who sounded as robotic as his deputies (if not more so).

"EXCUSE ME! BUT THE GREAT DUSKNOIR PLANS TO ADDRESS MANY MATTERS AND THAT TOPIC WILL BE INCLUDED! NOW, I'D LIKE TO GET THIS TOWN MEETING UNDER WAY!"

Dusknoir nodded and moved to the front of the meeting area. Everyone grew silent as Magnezone called the meeting to order.

"WE HAVE CALLED THIS TOWN MEETING TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF TIME GEAR THIEFT LATELY. THIS HAS BEEN A MAJOR PROBLEM AS YOU ALL MAY HAVE GUESSED."

Some chatter arose in the crowd as this, wondering if things were getting worse.

"THE THIEF, GROVYLE HAS ELUDED CAPTURE FOR A LONG TIME NOW. HE HAS STOLEN MANY TIME GEARS BUT THIS TIME, HE HAS BEEN FOILED. HE HAS FAILED TO STEAL A TIME GEAR."

There was a good amount of applause in response to this news.

"AND THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR STOPPING HIM… THAT WOULD BE THE GREAT DUSKNOIR RIGHT HERE." Magnezone said, turning to indicate Dusknoir hovering beside him. More applause.

"Officer, if I may take over here?" Dusknoir asked politely.

Magnezone nodded and moved aside to allow Dusknoir to take his postion at the head.

"My fellow pokemon," Dusknoir was grave despite the happy news moments ago "Grovyle has been stopped this time but he is still at-large and will undoubtedly attempt to steal the time gear again."

Chatter broke out in the group once again, worry about the time gears being stolen returning.

"Therefore, I feel I should explain several matters to you about why Grovyle would do this. My dear friends, Alex and Eve earlier were asking me if I knew the thief, Grovyle from before all this. The truth is… yes, I do know Grovyle."

A shocked silence followed this time.

"Grovyle comes from the future. In the future, he is an escaped criminal and has eluded capture for a long time. I have been chasing him for a while now. Recently, he has hit upon a most dire plan to destroy the world. He plans to steal the time gears and stop time!"

"B-but…" Teddiursa in the group spoke up "What would that do for him?"

"His goal…" Dusknoir responded "is nothing less than causing the paralysis of the entire planet."

Eve spoke up next.

"What… what happens when a planet is paralyzed?" she sounded genuinely curious yet scared.

"When a planet is paralyzed… no winds blow… the seasons cease to exist… the day never comes… the world is cloaked in eternal darkness. It is nothing less than the complete ruin of the world…" Dusknoir said slowly. His tone was nearly dead and only continued to grow more grave as he explained the paralysis of a planet. This description alone was enough to made Alex's stomach twist uncomfortably.

Then Corphish stepped up.

"Hey hey! I've got a question!" he then seemed a bit nervous to ask as everyone listened "Well, hey hey, it's about you Dusknoir, sir! I know you're all worldly and wise and all that… but how would you know all this? Even if you are so wise?"

Several in the crowd blinked and started wondering themselves. In truth, this hadn't crossed Alex's mind either and he found himself also wondering the same since it was brought up. Dusknoir did not seem upset by this question. In fact, he nodded and smiled understandingly.

"Corphish makes a valid point. Normally, I shouldn't have any way of knowing this. However, I know this since I too, am from the future."

Everyone let out a cry of utter shock. A visitor from the future. Right there among them the entire time.

"I pursued Grovyle from the future and I have been trying to capture him for the longest time. Now he has proved himself a greater threat than ever. So, I must ask all of you: please, help me to stop Grovyle and to bring peace to your world of the past."

Every pokemon in the crowd let out a defiant cheer.

"Yeah! We'll help stop him!"

"He won't steal another one!"

As the crowd chattered among each other about how they'd help, the three guardians approached Dusknoir.

"Dusknoir, to get to the time gear, Grovyle knows he has to get at me." Azelf pointed out "So I was thinking we could draw him to Crystal Lake and trap him there with a rumor that we're going to seal away the time gear so it can't be touched."

Dusknoir nodded.

"So you're suggesting we bait the trap… but that would require possibly putting the three of you in danger." Dusknoir had clear concern in his voice.

"I'd like nothing more!" Mespirit laughed confidently.

"If it's a risk we must take, we're all willing to take it." Uxie said, smiling. Dusknoir nodded, understanding their resolve and turned to the congregation of pokemon once again.

Dusknoir relayed the plan to the crowd and after he finished, several guild members started arguing about who would be helping with capturing Grovyle when he went for the trap. Magnezone even tried to cut-in pointing out his job being to arrest criminals. Alex and Eve refused to be excluded either. Dusknoir spoke over all of them though,

"I apologize, I appreciate all the offers of assistance… but for the capture of Grovyle, I wish to work alone." Dusknoir said, sounding very sorry indeed and all the voices died out with disappointment "Even if he does go to Crystal Cave to stop the time gear being sealed, Grovyle will be cautious in the extreme, especially considering what happened previously there. If everyone went there, he would undoubtedly notice the unusual number of pokemon in the area and stay away. Thus, I'd like to handle this myself. I am sorry for my selfishness…" Dusknoir hung his head as he finished.

"Well, if that's how it has to be…" Sunflora said, clearly not holding it against the explorer.

"Then that's how it is." Loudred agreed.

The town meeting was concluded a few minutes later and the guild members returned to the guild.

o0o

"-So that's how it is!" Chatot said as he finished recapping the plan for capturing Grovyle "We stay out of this. Magnezone has closed off Crystal Cave for this task. You should all spread the rumor about the time gear being sealed but not so much that it will seem suspicious. Just go about your business… and spread the rumor when you can. Dismissed!"

Alex and Eve went off to their task of doing jobs as normal.

o0o

Grovyle was still nursing the wounds he had gotten from the two that were apparently named "Team Long Ears". Grovyle couldn't help having noticed that's what Dusknoir had called them. Grovyle considered their appearance as he remembered them and couldn't help rolling his eyes… such an obvious, silly name.

_Sounds like something Alex might think up if he saw the two of them…_

One time gear left and he'd messed up… and now Dusknoir was officially on him. He was still wondering where his partner was… and how he'd kept himself hidden so well.

He allowed his mind to continue wandering as he continued to treat his injuries.

He resolved to try to get the final time gear again the next day. His mind wandered to when he had first arrived at this world of the past. He'd seen his first sunrise ever…

It all amazed him: the color in this world… the warmth of the sunlight… the cool feel of the wind when it blew. Back in the future, he had to move to feel the air move at all… and the sun was absolutely alien and was utterly non-existent.

_I will change this for the better… everyone deserves better than what I've been through all my life…_

o0o

The next day, Grovyle checked on the word going around at Treasure Town and his blood ran cold upon hearing it. He hoped this was merely a lie to draw him out… in fact, Grovyle was sure it was a trap Dusknoir had set up but he couldn't risk any of it being the truth. He needed to head to Crystal Cave to make sure and try to get the time gear once again. He couldn't afford to fail this time around.

Grovyle went back into Crystal Cave; his injuries healed and worked his way down.

The residents of the cave gave him little trouble and he was swift on his trail down.

It was at the chamber with the colored crystals that he ran into trouble.

He approached the first crystal and changed the color, then the second. He was just going through the center for the last one when a cold, familiar voice halted him.

"That will do, Grovyle."

Four sableye came charging in from the shadows and Dusknoir himself barred the exit going back up and out of the chamber.

"I should've figured as much…" Grovyle muttered, glancing around. He was trapped in the middle of the crystals. The trap was well designed. Unless he could fight his way out…

Dusknoir chuckled darkly.

"Thinking you can fight your way out? Sableye!" Dusknoir called and a fifth one touched the one crystal Grovyle hadn't changed yet. Grovyle's stomach dropped as he realized he had helped set the trap that would now take him down for Dusknoir, all without the ghost raising a finger.

The blue crystals resonated and Grovyle couldn't think of how to escape fast enough to avoid the electricity that shot from all three and slammed him in the middle! He screamed as pain permeated every inch of his body and collapsed over the crystal that arose under him. His limp body slid off, falling from the crystal, and flopped onto the ground in front of Dusknoir. He was still alive but unconscious from the shock.

"Tie him up. Make sure he can't even move his arms or speak. Then prepare the dimensional hole in town." Dusknoir ordered, a dark triumphant smile gracing his features.

o0o

Two days after the town meeting, Alex and Eve's wounds from fighting Grovyle had healed enough for them to take off the bandages and Alex had been wondering how Dusknoir's attempts at capturing Grovyle had gone. He also wondered about the future where Dusknoir had come from… was it peaceful?

It was that morning that they received news.

As Chatot was asking for their patience with waiting for news, the alarm went off.

"Deputy Magnemite's here!" Diglett called. The deputy's voice echoed into the silence of the guild.

"WE HAVE A REPORT ON THE STATUS OF GROVYLE! WE ARE PLEASED TO DELIVER THIS REPORT! DUSKNOIR HAS SUCCEEDED IN THE CAPTURE OF GROVYLE! HE HAS RECLAIMED THE STOLEN TIME GEARS FROM GROVYLE!"

A loud excited cheer immediately burst from all the guild members.

"DUSKNOIR HAS ALSO TOLD US HE WILL BE RETURNING TO THE FUTURE WITH GROVYLE!" The excitement immediately died as they heard this. They all had admired Dusknoir and were disappointed that he was going…

"HE WILL BE LEAVING FROM THE TOWN SQUARE THROUGH WHAT HE CALLED A 'DIMENSIONAL HOLE'! I DO NOT CLAIM TO KNOW HOW IT WORKS BUT HE WISHES TO BID EVERYONE FAREWELL BEFORE HE LEAVES! HE REQUESTS THE GUILD ATTEND! THAT IS ALL!"

Everyone exchanged sad glances with each other.

"Well, it's the least we can do I suppose…" Alex murmured to his partner "He's saved us twice and we did all we could to help."

They followed the guild out to town.

o0o

There was an odd hole waiting in town at the head of the Town Square. Magnezone and his deputies were guarding the hole, keeping curious pokemon from going near it.

Azelf, Uxie, and Mespirit were all there, waiting. Alex and Eve were quite happy to see them unharmed.

"So the trap worked?" Eve said excitedly.

"Yep." Azelf nodded.

"It went off flawlessly, I have to hand it to Dusknoir…" Mespirit said, who certainly sounded impressed.

"I trust the two of you are healed from your injuries?" Uxie asked them.

Team Long Ears spent about another minute having this friendly conversation with the trio of guardians when a cry arose.

"Here comes the Great Dusknoir!"

"Make way!" Loudred's voice easily roared over the clamor. Everyone parted to make a path to the dimensional hole.

Dusknoir, two sableye, and the thoroughly tied up Grovyle made their way steadily towards the hole. Grovyle looked like he had just resigned himself to being pushed along. Everyone was silent as they watched, though one or two whispered comments were exchanged in the silence.

"That's Grovyle?"

"He certainly _looks_ like a bad pokemon all trussed up like that…"

Even Grovyle's mouth had a copious amount of rope tied around it and his body and arms weren't visible under the coils that bound him. As the small procession took the head of the crowd in front of the hole, Dusknoir spoke his arms wide.

"Everyone, I thank you all for your help with capturing Grovyle! This should bring many years of continual peace to your world."

Grovyle's eyes widened at hearing this and he struggled for several moments, his voice struggling to get out past the binding holding his mouth shut.

"Grovyle can't say word tied up like that…" Eve murmured quietly.

"He is most vile as you can see…" Dusknoir continued, shooting the convict a pointed glare. Grovyle stopped struggling but glowered at Dusknoir, apparently angry about the unkind words (as far as Alex could tell).

"Into the hole with him…" Dusknoir ordered and the sableye lead Grovyle to the hole, putting him in front of it, before smacking him and knocking him stumbling forward into it. The two shadowy pokemon followed him in.

"I am afraid I must now return to my own time." Dusknoir announced, taking the center, directly in front of the hole. Tears started appearing all over the crowd. Chatot broke out wailing in sorrow.

He turned to the guardians.

"I trust you will return the time gears to their proper locations?" he said with a nod.

"We'll make sure they're returned to their proper locations." Uxie assured him.

"The task is yours..." Dusknoir nodded again.

He then turned and started towards the hole but then stopped.

"Ah yes… I almost forgot…" he murmured and turned to the crowd again "Before I go, I wish to see my two good friends one last time: Team Long Ears!"

"C'mon Alex, let's get up there…" Eve said, tears shining in her eyes. She was clearly trying not to sob.

Alex's heart felt like it was falling apart. He followed his partner to the front of the crowd so they were in front of Dusknoir.

"For all you've done for us Dusknoir… Thank you…" Eve said, she was still crying.

"You've saved us twice… take care in the future." Alex said, his voice was shaky with emotion.

"Well… I guess… this is the end…" Dusknoir said slowly and sadly… and bowed low to them in respect. Alex lowered his head to wipe away a tear and his ear flopped into sight. He was pushing it back up out of the way when Dusknoir muttered:

"…or is it?"

Suddenly Dusknoir grabbed both Alex and Eve, wrapping his fingers firmly around both of their bodies. They both cried out, startled as Dusknoir lifted them into the air!

"You two, are coming with me!" Dusknoir said and swiftly backed into the dimensional hole with them!

The congregation of pokemon before them couldn't react quickly enough in their shock to stop Dusknoir before all three vanished into the hole and it winked out of existence!

"What? What just happened?" Sunflora choked, her voice dead with shock… no one could answer...


	24. Escape

_**I imagine this chapter would evoke the characters' panic better if it weren't for my previous chapters...**_

_**Well, no matter. I did what I could. Please Read & Review. I'd like to improve it any if I can.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 23: Escape

Everything was a whirl of colors and Alex could barely perceive anything. He finally came to a halt when he hit ground, getting dumped hard somewhere dark. Or it might've been the fact that he was losing consciousness. He couldn't be sure but the last thing he felt was getting dragged across the ground before he woke up again later.

Eve was shaking him.

"C'mon Alex, wake up!" she said. Alex sat up and Eve backed up to give him room.

"Where are we?" he groaned, sore from the trip. His mind was still trying to catch up with what had happened and his sight was blurry for the moment.

"I don't know… I wish I had some idea though…" Eve responded and she sounded scared.

Alex blinked and his vision straightened itself out…

They were in a very plain, rock chamber. Everything was a dull gray. There was only one exit that either of them could see and it was blocked by a very solid-looking set of metal bars.

"I think we've been locked up." Eve said, quivering. Alex looked around the room again as he stood up, and only one question immediately arose in his mind: _Why?_

He walked over to the bars and tried pushing and pulling on them. They stayed firmly closed.

"No good… it would seem we _are_ locked up… but how did we end up here anyways?" he said.

"I woke up here too and I can't figure anything out… this room is built in no way I can made sense of!"

She breathed in and out, trying to calm down.

"Alright," she said "we were watching Dusknoir leave… and he grabbed us and pulled us into the dimensional hole..." she said, reviewing events.

It sounded correct to Alex but none of it made sense. Eve apparently saw this too as she started panicking again.

"Wait, if that's the case… is this the future?" she looked around and shook her head…

"We stopped Grovyle, didn't we? This can't be right…"

Alex wanted to say something but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Okay, let's try this again… we got pulled into the dimensional hole…" she paused and then looked around again "Are we really in the future?" she said, her pitch climbing from returning panic.

Alex was about to try and help her calm down again when the bars opened up and four pokemon marched in. Sableye.

"Ah, they're awake, how convenient…" the one in the lead said in a somewhat nasal voice before turning to his companions "Let's do this quickly."

All four then rushed at Alex and his partner and before Alex could react, a black cloth was pressed across his eyes.

"Hey! I can't see!" Eve yelled, apparently also blindfolded.

"Shhh. Come quietly…" a sableye said to both of them and they were prodded forward.

"Hey, no need to push." Eve complained but they were led forward, blindfolded. After an unknown amount of time, Alex was stopped and felt something else being pressed against him along with other sounds. Then the blindfold came off and he was in darkness for perhaps five seconds before a spotlight fell on him.

He winced from the blinding light, but after a few seconds of blinking, his eyes adjusted and he looked around. It didn't take long to realize he was tied firmly to a post with an excessive amount of rope. Another spotlight lit up to his left and he saw Eve also blinking in the light before realizing she was tied up in a similar manner. He tried to move but the ropes were firm and tight. Aside from his head, he couldn't squirm even slightly in the bindings and there wasn't a chance he could chew through them.

"What the-?" Eve cried out in surprise upon seeing their situation "Why are we tied up?" she exclaimed.

No one answered and as Alex looked around, he couldn't really see anything either aside from the two of them.

"Where are we?" She said, also looking around.

"This is a stockade…" someone answered. Alex looked to his right, having heard the voice from that direction. Another spotlight fell upon the area directly to his right, and Alex found himself looking at Grovyle, tied also in the same manner. The three of them were lined up, all tied up on individual posts.

"This is where they get rid of those who go against them." Grovyle said dully. He looked almost bored.

"What? What did we do?" Eve, again was yelling.

"I don't know… but whatever it is, you're here to be exterminated…" Grovyle said bluntly.

"But we haven't done anything! We're not like you!" Eve protested angrily. Grovyle just blinked calmly, continuing to look bored as he responded,

"I don't care. While you're busy losing your cool, why don't you pay attention?" he suggested, a hint of sarcasm evident. Then the entire room was lit as a door several yards in front of them opened. The large room was empty aside from its occupants. Six sableye marched in… followed by Dusknoir.

"Dusknoir, sir! What's going on? Why is this happening?" Eve called to him, Alex could feel the same hope also arising in himself. Dusknoir had always helped them.

Until now it seemed…

"Begin preparations. Just ignore those two…" Dusknoir said.

"Dusknoir! What's going on?" Eve repeated "Is there something wrong?" she sounded concerned about him.

"There's no point trying to talk to them…" Grovyle said, his tone now lower "Instead, shhh… speak softer so they can't hear you…" Grovyle was now whispering.

"Why should we trust you?" Eve hissed, trying to keep her voice down as requested.

"Would you rather wait for them?" Grovyle whispered, with a glance at the sableye, which were all sharpening their claws. Alex's stomach turned over… and Eve's expression told him they were thinking the same thing: _No… definitely not…_

"Now then you two… cooperate with me and maybe we can get out of this mess." Grovyle said, and they whispered assent to this.

"When those sableye strike, they'll use Fury Swipes." It sounded like a slow and unpleasant way to go "When they do… they'll hit the ropes binding us and that will be our chance…"

Alex could already see where Grovyle was going with this but it would be a tight situation and he still couldn't see how they were going to even get out of the room given where Dusknoir was positioned. Grovyle startled him when he suddenly addressed him.

"Hey, you in the middle… what can you do?" he asked. Alex found himself stuttering and confused. Grovyle had just come at him with that question out of the blue.

"Uh… um… a move?" he finally suggested. Grovyle thought that over… and shook his head.

"No… not enough time for that… think more basic."

Alex calmed the chaos in his mind and thought it over.

"When you are ready, begin. But keep an eye on them… especially Grovyle there…" Dusknoir commanded and the sableye began approaching them, slowly, claws raised.

"Just attack…" Alex finally hissed, unable to think of anything more basic; the fact they were now pressed for time didn't help. Grovyle considered that as well for a moment... and nodded.

"Yeah… that will do."

"If it's just a basic attack, I can help too." Eve whispered. Their attention was then drawn to the sableye now feet from them and getting ready to start shredding them.

"But what if they don't hit the ropes…" Eve whispered nervously "or if they don't use Fury Swipes…" she swallowed as the sableye lowered their claws, rearing back to strike.

"Just don't think about the result…" Grovyle said tensely, he suddenly sounded just as nervous. The jewel-like eyes glinted and all six suddenly were on them, lashing at them repeatedly!

Alex and Eve felt the blows and some struck at their faces. The shadowy sableye were small but they were evidently quite strong.

"Endure it! Just a little bit more…" Grovyle grunted as the two on him slashed wildly at him. The sableye seemed too absorbed in their own attack to hear them.

"If this keeps going, I won't last." Eve said, trying her best to endure. Alex was also getting worn down fast under the unrelenting storm of blows. Then a strike hit the rope and the bindings loosened.

He soon noticed the other two also slightly falling away from the ropes.

"There!" Alex and Grovyle both said at once.

"Go!" Eve yelled and they all lashed out in a sudden counter-attack. All six sableye were caught completely off-guard as their victims broke free of the ropes and slammed all of them, knocking them back.

"What?" Dusknoir yelled and started forward.

Grovyle brandished what Alex realized in an instant was a wonder orb. The grass-type then hurled the orb at the ground and it exploded in a blast of blinding light! Alex was blinded and there were several cries of pain and surprise as the jewel-eyed sableye were all blinded as well.

Then a hand grabbed Alex's wrist and he was yanked down!

A second later, all sound was muffled. It took a moment for Alex to realize he was buried underground. It was an unsettling experience for him, being electric-type and it reminded him uncomfortably of the dive in quicksand back at the desert. After several moments, a hand reached through the dirt, grabbed him and pulled him up like a vegetable. It was Grovyle. He plunged another arm into the recently dug-up dirt and pulled out Eve, who retched and spat out bits of dirt as she emerged. Grovyle put both of them down and looked around the room, cautious. Alex glanced around himself and found the room was now empty.

_Dusknoir and those sableye are gone… we're… safe?_

He found it hard to believe Grovyle knew so many moves and the move "Dig" had surprised him.

"C'mon…" Grovyle said softly and they snuck over to the door, Grovyle peered outside a moment before leading them out and quickly breaking into a swift run.

Alex and his partner kept up for a while though Alex found himself going instinctively to all fours. Eve was falling behind though.

"C'mon, run faster!" Grovyle hissed impatiently.

"I'm running as fast as I can!" Eve yelled back "Quit pushing me!"

"Just a little further and we should be out of here- there! There's the door!"

They ran right up to the door and quickly pushed it open, running outside immediately.

Alex and Eve staggered to a halt, shocked by the sight that awaited them.

The landscape looked absolutely alien to both of them. The sky was black and shades of gray with clouds covering it from end to end. The air was unsettlingly still, not even a hint of a breeze. What few trees that were present were clearly dead and barren, bare of leaves or any greenery. Most bizarre was the fact that there were rocks that were hovering off the ground… just floating in the air. Alex could barely see any of this as it was darker than Alex had ever seen before, even at night. There was no color… everything was some dull shade of gray.

Eve was struck with further confusion upon seeing this.

"What happened here? Why is it so dark?" Grovyle shook his head though.

"No time to explain, we need to get away from here!" and he dragged them forward.

They ran further and Eve asked her questions while they were running.

"So Grovyle…" she panted "is this really the future?"

"Yeah… you certainly catch on quick…" he said sarcastically. It had been a serious question and Eve winced as she received the answer she had been hoping wasn't it.

"How... are we going to get... back to our time?" she said, huffing as she continued running.

"We can consider that when we're somewhere safer! Right now, we need to keep running!" Grovyle said tersely. But Eve was getting tired and Alex could hear it in her hard breathing.

"I can't… keep… going… I need to rest!"

Grovyle let out a short groan, making it clear he saw this as an inconvenience.

"Alright!" he said, he couldn't restrain the irritation in his tone but he looked around and pointed "There! That should do! We can rest there!"

They ran over to the spot he had pointed to, which was next to a cave entrance with a rock hanging over it. Eve slowed and nearly collapsed out of exhaustion as they arrived.

"You shouldn't… be pushing her… so hard." Alex protested fiercely, also panting for breath.

"Would you rather get caught by those sableye again?" Grovyle countered, hardly winded by their run. "If we keep going, we'll eventually be able to-"

"Wait a minute!" Eve yelled, starting to get her stamina back up "We agreed to come this far with you just to get out of there! We didn't agree to be tagging along after that!"

"Do you want to get back to your own time _or not_?" Grovyle hissed, annoyed with their obstinate attitude.

"You were stealing time gears back in our time! _A criminal_!" Eve argued "You're not _worth_ trusting!"

Grovyle just about lost his temper then. He restrained himself from punching a rock or something, muttering curse-words under his breath and having a silent rant to himself before calming back down.

"Fine…" He finally growled, huffing out a breath as his frustration eased "It seems getting your trust is no easy task… I was thinking we could work together… but there's no point in trying to travel together if there is no trust. So I'm just going to go on ahead." He then turned for the cave and started toward it.

"Wait!" Eve called out and Grovyle paused, glancing back "Shouldn't we wait for sunrise? It's too dark to see right now." She said, indicating the skies and the general area. Grovyle sighed.

"I'm sorry to break this to you, but in this world… that's not going to happen. Day never comes here."

Alex blinked, confused.

"What do you mean? What's happened?" Alex said.

"The planet is paralyzed in the future." Grovyle said simply.

"Y-you mean… Dusknoir's description of when the world is paralyzed…?" Eve said and looked around again…

Alex also recalled the words Dusknoir had used to describe when a planet was paralyzed… he had been creeped-out by the description… the area around them fit the description. But Alex found actually experiencing these conditions to be downright unsettling. He didn't want to believe it but it was undeniable.

"I'm going on ahead." Grovyle repeated "You'd better move out soon… don't get caught by the sableye…" he said and disappeared into the cave.

"What do we do now?" Eve said, turning to Alex…

He wasn't sure of anything anymore… his mind was in chaos as everything he thought he knew was turning out wrong and now, they were on their own, being chased by a force, led by the one pokemon they had thought was their hero all this time…

"I just don't know…"


	25. Despair & Hope

_**A relatively short chapter.**_

_**A word of warning to my readers: This chapter contains a scene with some display of affections. Romance isn't my metaphorical "cup of tea" so don't worry about it becoming that serious at any point but still... just giving fair warning.**_

_**Please enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 24: Despair & Hope

Eve continued to try and straighten out her thoughts while they rested but it only led to further confusion from uncertainty and panic. She groaned.

"I just don't know what to believe anymore!" and flopped one paw over her head as if a headache were setting in. She looked up sharply and her panic rose even more when they heard the chuckling of sableye. The sound sent a chill running up and down Alex's spine.

"We've got to get moving." He said simply and grabbed Eve, dragging her into the cave.

Once they were inside, Alex found the cave to be unlike any he had ever seen before. They were soon treading on narrow pathways in the dark, a dark hole going straight down on either side.

"Let's just focus on getting through here for now." Alex said uneasily. He tried not to look over the edge.

Eve nodded and followed him closely.

The cave did not have very many residents but most turned out to be magnemite, which reminded Alex somewhat painfully of home at the guild. The magnemite were singular balls of metal with an eye that had magnets twisting about on either side with screws twisting in and out; they hovered through the air rather eerily and frequently surprised the team coming out of the dark. They weren't particularly tough fortunately and one good slap of the tail sent them tumbling through the air, never to be seen again.

The trouble turned out to be finding the way down in the cave. It was massive, complex, and because it was dark, they couldn't see much of anything. Eve's panic did not seem to return though.

Then they ran across an onyx, which in this case, wasn't a gem-stone, but a giant rock-snake of a pokemon. Somewhat to Alex's surprise, Eve didn't panic from being faced with this massive rock-type. Instead she took charge and she slammed it with all the force she could muster. Alex was a bit stunned that she wasn't worried anymore but he put his shock aside and helped. The onyx turned out to not be as tough as it looked and it soon went down.

Deeper into the cave, they also encountered magneton, which were basically three magnemite that were stuck with each other. These weren't much tougher but they weren't knocked away so easily and, being electric-type, Alex couldn't do that much damage. They managed to drive off the flying magnets though whenever they showed up.

After more time, wherein Alex and Eve wandered the narrow paths of the cave, feeling lost, they finally found the end and emerged outside to more dark landscape and a path going along the bottom of a cliff. Alex was continuing to keep an eye on Eve and he noticed her worry returning as they proceeded. It appeared that fighting through that cave had served to distract her from her concerns… now that they were through it, she was thinking about their situation again.

His own concerns about the situation also returned to his mind. He wanted answers… _anything_ that would explain why they had been dragged here… and why the planet was paralyzed in the future. His mind wouldn't be able to relax until he had answers.

They came across what was evidently a small waterfall… but it was also frozen in time, which looked as bizarre as the floating rocks because of the droplets of water frozen in the air. Eve then had an idea.

"Hey, Alex. Try touching this water."

He blinked at first, unsure what purpose that would serve.

"Maybe you're get a vision." Eve pointed out.

That… gave Alex hope.

_Answers… if I can get a vision, maybe I can get some answers… that would help so much…_

He nodded and walked up to the waterfall, braced himself for the vertigo, then put a paw on the still water…

Nothing happened. He lifted his paw and touched it again, willing a vision to come… but still, nothing happened. He couldn't withhold a despaired sigh.

"Nothing…" he groaned quietly, shaking his head. Eve's ears drooped with similar disappointment. She straightened up though and her ears stiffened.

"Well, let's get moving. We need to keep ahead of those sableye." Alex nodded in agreement and followed her.

They were soon climbing up a gently sloping hill. Ghost-type pokemon dwelling in the area decided they wanted to play with them on the way though. Gastly, black, floating balls of gas with faces, approached them, even coming out of rocks, and sometimes licked one of them. Eve shook off the saliva without being too bothered but getting licked proved very unpleasant to Alex, his muscles stiffened up similar to paralysis once and Eve had to fight the ghost-type off herself. It didn't prove too hard, as it didn't like when Eve bit at it. The ghost-types often retreated under that attack. The hill was feeling like a haunted house though.

Alex allowed Eve to handle many of the fights though he did help whenever he could. As they got higher up on the dark hill, dusclops started appearing as well. These ghost-types looked like single-eyed mummies… their slow, creepy approach made both Alex and Eve tense and they ended up attacking with more force than they needed to.

They ended up using a couple of Max Elixirs about halfway up the hill as the ghost-types were more draining them of their stamina rather than actually physically harming them.

"Bloody tricksters…" Alex grumbled as he fried a truly ghost-like haunter that popped out in front of him, startling him to its amusement.

"They're just another pokemon… just another pokemon…" Eve was mumbling as she attempted to keep her nerves under control over all the ghosts trying to scare them.

Alex felt some relief to finally reach the top of the hill, where they had a cliff overlooking much of the darkened landscape… and the fact of their situation then returned to his mind. The fatigue from staying on the move didn't help.

"Hey, look at all those lights over there!" Eve said, pointing out at the view from the cliff. There was a collection of lights all gathered to the north (at least, Alex thought it was north… he couldn't be sure).

Eve's ears drooped as she realized something…

"Those lights… they're pretty and nice in such a dark world… but that's the stockade isn't it?" she said, what sounded like depression setting in. Alex himself realized that those lights were, indeed back the way they had come. Only death awaited them around those lights… it wasn't a comforting thought.

"What are we going to do?" Eve moaned softly, sitting down. She blinked, tears forming in her eyes.

"I want to see everyone back home again… Bidoof… Sunflora… Chatot… I m-miss them…" she was starting to sob and Alex felt his like his heart was breaking with her spirit. His mind went into turmoil trying to figure out how to cheer her up.

_Eve's feeling down… and all because of this situation we're in… I want to cheer her up… but just saying we'll be okay is just going to feel like false comfort here…_

He then remembered how her panic and worry had gone away, if only temporarily when she had a goal in mind. And they needed answers still… they couldn't ask Dusknoir since he was now suddenly the enemy… there was only one pokemon left…

_That's it… it's the only way…both a goal to drive off the panic and answers to drive off the confusion… I'll tell her._

"Eve, let's go find Grovyle." Alex said immediately and firmly. She looked up, her eyes reddened from crying. His question was met with some confusion.

"Huh? Grovyle? Why?"

"He said he was going back so…" Eve picked up his line of thinking, her tears starting to let up.

"…so he'll know a way back to our time… yeah, I know…" she murmured, sniffing, her voice then sharpened as she protested "But why should we trust _him_?"

"Because…" Alex felt he could hardly believe he was saying this "he's the only one we have left in this world. The only one who will give us answers."

Eve's face hardened.

"Well, I can't trust him!" she said stamping one foot "He's a bad pokemon and... and… I… I…" she trailed off and sighed, hanging her head as she realized her argument was worthless.

"You're right…" she finally admitted, standing…she looked up "Grovyle's the only one we have left here, our only hope left… let's go find him." She smiled as she finished. Alex was happy to see her smile for the first time since they'd ended up here and he nodded and walked onwards, starting on the way to go find Grovyle.

"…Thank you Alex…"

Alex paused and turned to look back, Eve still had that soft smile on her features… the look could only be described as affectionate. It made Alex feel a little uncomfortable… in a way that he found he didn't mind.

"You've been trying hard to keep my spirits up… and I almost gave up here… feeling I was all alone… when I'm not…"

She then charged up to him and half-tackled him in a hug on her hind legs, her tail flying. He managed to stay on his feet but he was immediately confronted with a number of feelings. Alex immediately felt his face get hot with embarrassment and he froze in surprise which also rendered him speechless… but he also felt his affection for his partner was at one of its greatest points. He felt at that moment… just how utterly indispensable she was to him.

"Thank you…" Eve murmured again and pulled away from him. Alex was still feeling hot in the face and looked away, hoping she wasn't noticing his face was probably bright red. She giggled and Alex sighed… all hope there was lost.

"C'mon, let's go find Grovyle and get him to answer our questions. I'm not going to give up again, not while you're here." She said, apparently ignoring Alex's embarrassment and led on. She was still smiling and that was enough for Alex. He followed.


	26. Determination

_**This entire part that I've been working on is one of my favorite parts of the game so I've working on this more than usual.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 25: Determination

Alex and his partner arrived at what appeared to be a run-down structure of some sort. Alex wasn't sure what it was but he tried to convince his mind that it was a simple set of ruins… and not a tomb.

"Well, there's been no branching paths since Grovyle left us. Just one way. So Grovyle must have gone through here." Eve pointed out as they found the entrance. "Lets hurry and catch up with him. I hope he's not going too fast for us to catch up…"

Alex took a moment to repack at a Kangaskhan statue that was conveniently next to the entrance before they rushed into the ruins and proceeded down as fast as they could.

The pokemon that were in the ruins turned out to be predominantly steel-types. One that was particularly bizarre was had what looked like a red cap and a massive angular nose, a blue body and a black mass under the nose that looked like a mustache. Eve said it was called a probopass but Alex, for some reason, felt he wanted to give it a different name that was more Italian. He got an odd look from Eve for that and they just decided to move on once they had taken out the probopass barring their way.

Another resident were poison-types called muk… which were little more than massive piles of sludge. Alex attempted to fry one and in its surprise, it belched up a horrid-smelling cloud that Alex had to turn from and let Eve finish off the muk while he kept his stomach from turning up its contents. After the air cleared around his head, they proceeded.

"Ugh… anything that doesn't remind me of Team Skull… please…" he groaned, still feeling queasy.

They ran across other residents of the ruins and little changed as they went down.

They didn't go too far before they arrived somewhere they could take a moment to rest.

Alex was silently praying they'd catch up with Grovyle soon. The moment there was a split in the road before them, they could easily lose their only ticket to answers and a way back home. Neither of them knew what lay ahead and they wouldn't be able to find Grovyle unless he stayed on this straight road.

"C'mon, let's go." Alex said and Eve didn't argue as they quickly proceeded deeper into the ruins.

More residents of the ruins stood in the way and the team of two slammed their way through them all. Draconic shelgon, which looked like off-white, egg-shaped hides with legs and eyes, attempted to stand up to them but their combined attacks quickly took down the dragon-type whenever one appeared. They were running as fast as they could and took out all opponents as fast as possible.

They did not have to go far.

They arrived at a large chamber that seemed to be empty except for a few rocks.

"Grovyle hasn't moved on through here, has he?"

Then Alex noticed him on the ground several feet away.

"Over there!"

They started towards Grovyle, who looked like he was unconscious. However, it turned out he was awake.

"You two! Stay back!" he grunted. It sounded as if he were struggling with someone but neither of them could see an enemy in the room.

"W-What's wrong, Grovyle?" Eve said, she couldn't withhold some concern in her voice.

"There's an enemy here…" Grovyle said, his voice still strained and he managed to get an eye open again and glanced in their direction.

"It's right next to you!" he yelled.

Alex looked where Grovyle was looking and saw nothing…except a rock on the ground before him.

_Has he gone insane?_

"Where?" Alex said, looking around wildly for the enemy.

Then a voice spoke or rather several voices all at once.

"**You DARE trespass on OUR domain? And without APOLOGY?**"

Alex looked for the source and his and Eve's eye fell on the cracked stone directly in front of him.

"What? This-?" Alex started, confused.

"**WHO do you THINK you ARE? To LOOK upon US and withOUT paying the PRICE!**" the voices said and both Alex and his partner jumped back as a cloudy figure erupted from the rock. The face was distorted and was shifting in appearance so Alex couldn't see a clear face in the swirl of colors, which were primarily a sickly green and purple.

"**We… are… SPIRITOMB!**" The rock-haunting ghost declared, its voice continuing to sound like many speaking at once.

"You're the one holding Grovyle?" Alex said, somewhat freaked-out by the bizarre spirit. Alex could tell his partner was just as freaked-out from her expression.

"**HE also trespassed OUR domain. We are 108 in NUMBER and we will HAVE our JUSTICE! PREPARE for your PUNISHMENT!**" Spiritomb bellowed and advanced on them, cackling.

Eve stepped up and Alex zapped the spirits while Eve supported him.

The spirits fired a strange beam at Eve and she staggered back, her eyes rolling. She attempted to attack but Alex had to jump aside to avoid her as her attack flew wide of its target and almost hit him!

Alex quickly zapped Spiritomb again.

Declaring its intents to punish him for his insolence, Spiritomb lunged forward at Alex and Alex moved to evade but the attack was odd in nature and Spiritomb appeared to shift as it moved. Alex ended up getting hit despite his attempts to evade.

"Give me just a minute here…" Eve moaned as she staggered about "I'm waiting for the room to stop turning…"

_She must be confused…_ Alex thought and moved away from Spiritomb as Eve swiped out at empty space.

The ghost chased after him and Alex unleashed another blast of electricity at it.

"Just go away, already!" Alex yelled as Spiritomb cackled and the voices seemed start muttering to each other chaotically.

Alex attempted to swat the rock with his tail but this didn't seem affect the collection of spirits much and Eve was still trying to get her head on straight again.

Spiritomb lunged forward again and Alex, again found the spirits seemed to move to hit him.

"Enough!" he yelled and unleashed a strong blast of electricity that hit all around him.

Spiritomb screeched and the rock bounced back several feet. The sound seemed to shock Eve so thoroughly that she shook her head, recovering and turned to look at Spiritomb.

Spiritomb was howling and moaning as if in agony.

_I didn't hit it _that_ hard… did I?_

Then the room shook a moment before Spiritomb seemed to get sucked back into its rock!

The rock shifted, as if it was looking around. Something flew out of Grovyle's prone form and into the rock. It looked at Alex and then hopped as if he had scared it.

"Eep! R-run! Run away!" a tinny voice squeaked from the rock. It then bounced away hurriedly.

"What was _that_ all about?" Alex said, somewhat exasperated.

"It ran away-ouch!" Grovyle groaned, getting up and wincing as a joint audibly popped.

"Are you okay Grovyle?" Eve said, hurrying up to him.

"Yeah… I'll be fine…" Grovyle muttered, flexing his limbs about, several more popping. Then wiped his nose as Alex approached.

"Tricky, cunning little creep…" he grumbled "Possessed me… I didn't realize it was there until it shot up my nose…"

Alex and Eve both cringed as that didn't sound pleasant at all.

"You were in that position for a while?" Alex said.

"Yeah…" Grovyle muttered twisting a shoulder around "I'm just a little stiff…"

"So it was a bad pokemon?" Eve said, glancing in the direction Spiritomb had ran off in.

"No… there's plenty of pokemon here in the future like that…" Grovyle explained, twisting around and working out more stiffness "Just bitter from the darkness… it lost control because it got so angry."

Then, noticing they were having a civil conversation he asked:

"So… does this mean you two finally trust me?" he said, looking at them. Eve looked unsure.

"Uh… maybe?" she said, the uncertainty in her tones "I'll admit, I still don't really trust you…"

Grovyle's hopeful look was replaced with that old annoyance. He huffed out a breath.

"Right… I'm off." He said blandly and started for the exit. Eve quickly stopped him though with a cry of "Wait!" and he turned around to listen, his arms crossed.

"I don't really trust you but you're the only one who can explain to us what's going on. We've been in a state of confusion ever since we got here and we just can't figure it out ourselves. So please, Grovyle, could you explain to us?"

"And if my explanation is a big pack of lies?" Grovyle said acidly. Alex gave him an unamused look… _he doesn't need to be sarcastic._

"I won't take your words at face value… I'll consider them first and decide." Eve answered.

Grovyle considered her words and his scowl lessened.

"Alright… c'mon…" he said, dropping his arms to his sides and heading for the exit. They followed.

o0o

They left the ruins and Grovyle led them at a more considerate pace until they found a small cove that was evidently secure enough for him.

"Right… this should keep us hidden from view…" he murmured and then joined them inside the cove.

"So, how did the planet end up paralyzed?" Eve asked first. Grovyle sat down before beginning.

"That started some centuries or so back, in your time, with the collapse of Temporal Tower. Temporal Tower gives structure to time and keeps it going properly. There's a legendary pokemon called Dialga that watches over the tower and kept time in order; however when the tower collapsed, Dialga lost all sense of self. Now he's little more than a feral presence… Primal Dialga. The only thing Primal Dialga is concerned with now is preserving itself. I went back in time to stop all of that from happening."

"Wait a minute, weren't you trying to stop time by stealing the time gears?" Eve cut-in, confused. Grovyle snorted, shaking his head.

"You must be kidding… no, I was collecting the time gears because they're needed to prevent Temporal Tower from collapsing. If I can get the time gears to the top of Temporal Tower and install them there, it should reverse the collapse of the tower and prevent time from stopping. The fact that time stops where the time gears are removed is only temporary. Once they're put in at the tower, time would return to normal everywhere."

"What about all of what Dusknoir told us, about you being a criminal… and trying to bring about the end of the world?" Eve said. Alex felt she was trying to cling to her previous beliefs but as he was listening to this explanation, he found it all lined up so far even if he couldn't be sure of everything…

"Lies…" Grovyle responded to the question bluntly "What else? After all, Dusknoir is just a pawn that obeys Primal Dialga… he was sent after me to stop me from preventing the tower's collapse."

That evidently caught Eve off-guard and it shocked Alex but he found himself accepting it… it made sense even though it hurt to think that the Dusknoir that had saved them was doing this.

"Dusknoir… the same Dusknoir that saved us? He's sent by…" Eve shook her head as words failed her.

"I know it's hard to believe-" Grovyle said calmly.

"I _can't_ believe it!" Eve burst. She looked ready to cry again.

"I find it a little hard to believe too…" Alex murmured "but it makes sense…"

He moved to comfort her but Eve abruptly stood and started for the direction they had come from.

"Where are you going?" Grovyle said, an eyebrow raised.

"I'm going to go ask Dusknoir. See if this is really true" She said. Grovyle jumped up and Alex stared in disbelief. They all knew what waited back that way.

"Are you crazy? You're just heading for your own death doing that!" Grovyle said incredulously.

"Then how am I supposed to know if this true or not?" she protested.

Grovyle groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Didn't I already ask you about this? You said you'd listen and not take the words at face value! You said you'd judge for _yourself_!" he said, stepping towards her until he was standing over her. She backed away, intimidated as she was reminded of her own words.

"It's times like this that you need to buck up, and just work with things as they are! Times like these, you need to just move… no time to be afraid or feel uncertain of what might be waiting..." Grovyle paused after this, looking away from them… and Alex got the feeling he was remembering something… he only spent a moment though before he was back to business.

Grovyle turned and started walking off towards a forest up ahead; this tore Alex away from his thoughts.

"Where are _you_ going?" Alex asked Grovyle. Eve straightened up though she was still trying to straighten out her thoughts. Grovyle stopped and turned as he explained:

"I'm heading for Dusk Forest… it's just up ahead. There, I can find Celebi. She helped me go back last time and we agreed to meet there if I ended up coming back without completing my mission." He glanced at both of them "Come along if you want… but you need to make up your mind now who you're going to believe. We won't get anywhere if you can't trust me." And with that, Grovyle marched off towards the forest.

"What am I supposed to believe?" Eve murmured sadly as Grovyle faded into the darkness "I'm just so confused…"

Alex approached her and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"I don't know if all of what Grovyle said is the truth either but we can be sure one thing is true:" Alex said with a firm expression on his face "Here in the future, time is frozen. We need to focus on going back to our own time first before we can fix anything. Focus Eve… Grovyle is right: there's no time right now to be afraid of being wrong about him and besides that, we've faced situations like this before…" he gave her an encouraging smile as he finished. He was, of course, thinking of the waterfall and quicksand back in their time. They had been afraid of what waited on the other side then too but they had had the bravery to just charge in and trust in what they thought, true or not.

Eve listened… and after a moment, she looked up.

"Alright… I understand Alex. Wrong or not, let's go with Grovyle and find Celebi." Alex was glad to see she still trusted him and turned to start after Grovyle. She called after him though, and Alex turned to look at her again. Eve put on a determined face.

"Alex, let's get back to our own time!" she said, hardened determination in her voice.

_That's the spirit I'm used to hearing from you, Eve._ Alex thought, feeling he could be proud of his partner.

He nodded again, content with her attitude and they ran to catch up with Grovyle.


	27. Celebi

_**Another short chapter. Don't worry though, the next chapter is going have a LOT more.**_

_**In the meantime though, here's another chapter. It's not much but I hope it's good.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 26: Celebi

The three soon arrived at the edge of the forest.

"This is Dusk Forest…" Grovyle commented, looking around for ambushes "It gets its name from the darkness that continually shrouds it. We should hurry though."

"Why? I don't think those sableye are going to chase us this far…" Eve said, looking around.

"Don't underestimate their tenacity… and besides that, there's something else that concerns me here…" Grovyle said, a definite edge of worry in his voice "Celebi helped me go back in time so she's volunteered her help to preventing the collapse of Temporal Tower…" Alex picked up what he was saying:

"So they're after Celebi too…" he murmured, concern for Celebi arising.

"Exactly, so let's get moving before the sableye can catch up." Grovyle proceeded ahead and Eve started to follow but Alex froze as he looked around.

_What is this feeling? I know I've felt this before…_

"Alex! What's the matter?" Eve called. He tried to focus past her though and think.

_Wait! That's it! The same feeling from Foggy Forest!_

"_Hey!_" Grovyle yelled, coming back "We don't have time to be standing around! C'mon!" he called impatiently. Alex lost his train of thought.

_Blast… so close… but I don't have time to get back to it… maybe later then…_

Alex and Eve followed Grovyle in, Alex disappointed he couldn't think on that feeling more.

o0o

Grovyle was a powerful asset to the team. He was considerably stronger than either of the young explorers individually.

They came across only a few different forest residents and they were little challenge for Grovyle and his blades. This didn't mean though that Alex and Eve didn't pull their weight.

Indeed, when they came across a bug-type mothim, Alex stepped forward and promptly fried the brown bug. The same with when they came across jumpluff, which were grass-types that had cotton-balls on their hands and head, allowing them to float on the air when they jumped. Alex also slammed these grass-types with electricity and Grovyle would lash out at them, finishing them off.

o0o

Grovyle also had the opportunity to see Team Long Ears work together in a dungeon and he could see after only a little while into the forest that they were a very well paired team. The pikachu seemed to understand him better than the eevee, who had annoyed him with her obstinacy.

_I suppose I've been hard on them…_ Grovyle thought to himself and shook himself. He wasn't about to get attached to them if he could help it though… He would be gone after all this… to get their names would only make it harder to do this in the end. This was why he hadn't bothered with names. They just happened to know his already.

_I just hope they turn out into a fine exploration team once I've saved their time from this tragedy._ Grovyle thought, and then refocused his thoughts on travel.

o0o

They didn't go too far into Dusk Forest before Grovyle halted the party.

"Alright, this is where Celebi said she'd meet me if I needed to go back again…" he said "She's a little odd but she should be here..." He glanced around and then called out into the forest:

"Celebi! Come on out... If you're here!"

They waited several moments (it would've been odd to say seconds as no time was actually passing) and Team Long Ears glanced around, looking for someone that responded to the call.

"Nothing…" Alex murmured.

"Maybe she's not here…" Eve said, glancing at the forlorn-looking area "She didn't get captured did she?" she said uncertainly.

"_Captured?_" A voice echoed from the trees, then there was a giggle.

They looked around again for the source.

"Did I imagine that?" Eve muttered, glancing at Alex who shrugged, then both jumped when the voice spoke again.

"_You didn't imagine it!_" they said brightly then laughed "_But captured? _There's_ something that won't be happening to me!_" It was definitely a girl.

Then a light gathered before Grovyle and when it cleared, there was a pokemon a shocking shade of pink flying in front of him.

Alex blinked, once he got over the shade of pink the figure was, he noticed it was no bigger than himself. She looked a little as if she were made of grass tied into a sort of doll. She also sported two little antenna and a very fairy-like set of wings that might've also been made of grass.

"Hello Celebi…" Grovyle said, as if he were perfectly used to this playful mood, which he was.

"Hello, my dear Grovyle." Celebi responded sweetly.

"Huh?" Eve said, an eyebrow raised "This is Celebi? She's so small…" she said, somewhat stunned.

Celebi glared at Eve and huffed at her.

"What? Don't be making fun of a pokemon's petite proportions!" she sniffed haughtily.

Eve's ears dropped as she immediately apologized.

"Sorry... I just heard that you could help us travel through time so... I guess I was expecting someone bigger..."

Alex himself had been about to comment on the shade of pink but Celebi's reaction to size made him shut his mouth quickly. Celebi giggled after hearing the apology.

"That's all right… besides, I bet I'm cuter than you thought I was going to be!" she said drifting through the air to Alex and Eve, giving them a playful wink. Grovyle sighed, as he felt they had no time for this tomfoolery.

"Celebi… I need your help again." He said, trying to bring them back to the issue at hand. The fairy turned.

"Yes… I know… you being here tells me everything I need to know, my dear Grovyle." She said coyly "You got dragged back here and now you need to get back, yes?"

Grovyle winced as if she had punched him in the stomach as she mentioned his failure.

"Well," she said somewhat snappishly "I certainly hope you succeed this time around, I'm quite tired of all this. I think we'd _all_ like to be spared the pain of this future." she said, gesturing at the dark forest and landscape around them.

Celebi glanced at all three of them.

"So… I trust all three of you will be going…?" she said presumptuously as she looked them over.

"Yeah," Grovyle responded "These two were brought here with me for whatever reason..."  
>Celebi didn't seem to be paying attention beyond the first words though. She had locked eyes with Alex and landed in front of him, gazing at him with a confused look.<p>

"What?" Alex said, shrugging. He was trying to figure out what she was looking at him so intently for.

"That can't be…" she murmured under her breath as she blinked at him, still with that confused look. Grovyle didn't hear but he couldn't miss the fact she was staring so intently at Alex.

"Something wrong, Celebi?" Grovyle asked.

Celebi shook her head, breaking eye contact and closed her eyes.

"It's nothing… I must just be seeing things…" Celebi said, dismissively waving a hand and hopped into the air again. She glanced back at Alex one more time as she flew to the front and he could swear she was staring at his ears but then she looked away again, murmuring other stuff to herself.

"Alright," she said, turning to them "I saw the three of you coming so the Passage of Time is already prepared for you. I'll show you the way." She said and flew onwards.

o0o

Celebi led them up a hill in the forest.

The residents of the deep forest turned out to be more rock than grass-types. Perhaps most annoying to Alex were the rhydon, which were large bi-pedal… things that had a single horn upon their noses. In a sense, Alex was almost reminded of a larger, rockier, boneless cubone. Rhydon were very different but in the end, they were revealed to have "lightning-rod" tendencies as well, where they'd attract nearby electricity, much to Alex's annoyance. Alex was so grateful Grovyle and Celebi, both grass-types, were there to help.

Indeed, Grovyle and Celebi were the primary combatants for the residents of the forest. Eve helped by supporting their attacks and Alex handled the few bug-types they ran across but that aside, Team Long Ears were mostly taking a back seat in this dungeon.

As they traveled, Alex ended up striking up conversation with Celebi.

"So you can travel through time with this… Passage?"

"Yep." Celebi answered brightly "Though I can jump on short little trips _all_ on my own." She giggled again as if it were the cutest concept ever. "But if I'm going to take others or going spanning generations, I have to use the Passage of Time."

Alex was tempted to make his next question about her coloration but the smarter side of his mind opted not to do so and instead he asked about how long she'd known Grovyle.

"I'm not sure exactly how long I've known Grovyle," she answered and Alex could hear a hint of shyness in her tones "But we kinda ran into each other and we… well, we got to know each other. I've been trying to find a way to fix this dark future for a long time now and he found out when he tried to rescue me from capture." She giggled again at mentioning this "Of course, it was completely unnecessary so he was the one that needed rescuing in the end. I was happy to do it. I then ended up filling him in on what I was trying to do. I originally didn't want to drag him into it but he insisted and well… we've been working together ever since."

As she finished, Alex could see the same feelings in her expression as he had had for Eve. He decided to keep quiet though.

He did give Celebi a friendly smile before he fell back with the other two.

o0o

After fighting through more ground and rock-types of the forest, the group finally arrived at a cliff at the edge of the forest.

"There it is! The Passage of Time!" Celebi said, pointing ahead.

There was what appeared to be a glowing doorframe of light sitting in the cliff-face. Alex found it certainly _felt_ mystical.

"Alright Celebi. Do your thing." Grovyle said smoothly.

"Sure." She said with a friendly wink and started towards the Passage.

"**That's far enough**!"

All four froze and six sableye came charging out and surrounded them. Celebi backed up so she was with the group again. She was thoroughly surprised as were all of them.

Then Dusknoir hovered out and stood in front of the Passage of Time.

"Hello, everyone. Did you have fun running all this way? Welcome to the end of the line." The ghost chuckled darkly.


	28. Revelations

_**Okay, this is the one at least some of you have been waitin' for.**_

_**I did what I could on this one.**_

_**Read & Review please. I'd love to optimize this one's quality.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 27: Revelation

The situation had gone from hopeful and even upbeat to suddenly tense and very dangerous.

Grovyle looked around, taking in their position and considering how this had happened.

_Surrounded… I never saw a sableye, much less Dusknoir on the way here… Celebi…_ He quickly drew one conclusion.

"That's cunning Dusknoir…" Grovyle growled "You had your sableye trailing us the whole way but left us alone so we'd lead you right to Celebi and get to capture all of us. Am I correct?"

The duo behind him were mildly stunned to hear this but Grovyle and Celebi stood ready to fight.

Dusknoir laughed.

"Yes, you've never disappointed me when it came to intelligence," Dusknoir commented "but your mind won't help you here."

"You two…" Grovyle whispered behind him and the pikachu and eevee edged closer to listen "I'll take on Dusknoir myself, you and Celebi push past the sableye and get to the Passage, she'll open it and you go through. I'll try to follow you through as soon as I can. Got it?"

"Got it." They both nodded and they faced out to the sides to, getting ready to fight their way out. Grovyle stepped towards Dusknoir, ready to tussle with his opponent.

"Alright Dusknoir! Just you and me…" he declared, ready to keep the ghost from getting past his defenses.

Dusknoir smirked though, arms folded.

"Really now Grovyle, you think after last time, I didn't come prepared?"

"What?" Grovyle felt a sense of dread immediately and he was reminded of what had happened at Crystal Lake.

"Master Dialga! Now!" Dusknoir yelled and everything went dark!

"What's going on?" Eve yelled behind him.

Then there was a singular, red light shining over where the Passage was.

Followed by an ear-splitting roar as sight returned.

Grovyle stared up at the top of the cliff… paralyzed with terror.

Standing atop the cliff over the Passage, was a massive, dark-blue figure resembling a four-legged dragon with legs as thick as tree trunks. It was plated in metallic strips of hide with a shining red gem emblazoning the chest and orange, vein-like strips running along the metal, pulsing with power. The figure's feral, red eyes reflected nothing but its primal rage and fury.

"W-what is that?" the pikachu said, his voice shaking, nothing he did could hide the terror he was also feeling.

All hope of escape fled Grovyle in that instant.

"Primal… Dialga…" he breathed… his voice dead with shock. He still remembered the one time he had tangled with Primal Dialga... it had been a nightmare to get away and a miracle that he had. He severely doubted he could pull it off again...

_He brought Primal Dialga all this way just to stop us from returning… he's trumped us..._

Even Celebi, who had been looking smug even when surrounded, now looked worried.

Grovyle groaned…

_We aren't getting out of this…_

"Alright Dusknoir…" Grovyle said, resigned "I surrender…" and he stepped forward, his arms wide, ready for defeat.

His three companions were suitably shocked by the stanch grass-type's surrender.

"Grovyle! Can't we do _any_thing?" the eevee said, terror still gripping her under the gaze of Dialga overhead.

"No… I'm sorry…" Grovyle said, glancing back "Dusknoir is one thing… but we don't stand a chance against Dialga…You've both been working hard to get to this point too… I'm so sorry…" he said, his voice heavy with regret.

Celebi looked like she wanted to do something to help as well but she couldn't think of anything.

Grovyle gave her a final smile as they made eye contact and lowered his arms.

"Don't worry… even if we're down… hope still stands. You remember, right?" he said quietly to her.

Dusknoir heard this and laughed darkly.

"Oh? What is this? This final hope of yours then?" Dusknoir said curiously.

"I'm surprised you don't remember Dusknoir…" Grovyle said, giving him a spiteful smirk "I didn't go into the Passage alone the first time!"

The team of two behind him blinked, new to this information.

"I had a partner then and they're still in the past. We both vowed to each other to prevent the collapse of the tower. My partner will carry out our mission, even if I'm down and out!"

Dusknoir listened to this with a neutral expression… but then a grin spread across Dusknoir's face and he began to laugh. Loud and earnest, as if Grovyle had just told an excellent joke.

"Oh-ho Grovyle, you've finally failed at a key moment!" He said before he continued laughing even more.

Grovyle found himself feeling nothing but confusion.

"What's so funny?" Grovyle yelled, determined to find a way to wipe the smile off Dusknoir's face.

"For one that is so perceptive as to elude me for so long, you are blind to what has been front of you the entire time!" Dusknoir continued to laugh "Tell me: what again is the name of your partner? It seems to have slipped my mind."

Grovyle could tell from Dusknoir's tone that he was teasing him… but about what? It wasn't making any sense...

"What about his name? What does that matter?" Grovyle said. Somewhere in a corner of his brain, Grovyle felt a new nameless dread starting to arise… but he couldn't figure out what it was…

"What's the matter? Can't remember it either?" Dusknoir continued to tease.

"Why would I ever forget his name? Alex is my best friend!"

To his own surprise, there was an outcry of surprise from behind him.

"What?" both young explorers yelled.

"Grovyle!" Eve immediately said "This is Alex right here!"

Grovyle didn't bother turning around… he knew about the pikachu behind him.

"That's not possible!" Grovyle declared firmly "Alex wasn't a pokemon! He is a human!"

Dusknoir continued to laugh though.

"This is precisely what I speak of! You have been blind to what has been before you this whole time, or rather who is behind you! That pikachu used to be human!" Dusknoir declared triumphantly.

Grovyle wanted to deny it…he wanted to disbelieve every word… to pass this as another bluff by Dusknoir to capture him… yet his mind could not discard it.

_Dusknoir dragged them here into the future himself… he would not have done that without a reason._

Grovyle twisted around and looked back at the pikachu standing in stunned-silence behind him.

The former human had been looking at himself in his shock and as a result, one ear had fallen over his eye. The resemblance was irrefutable. Grovyle was dumbstruck, trying to figure out how he hadn't seen it before now.

_How many times while we were together did I see his hair fall over his eyes like that?_

"I'll admit, that new body had me fooled as well when I first met them." Dusknoir said as he stopped laughing.

"I thought they were just another exploration team in the past even if I felt like I'd seen one of them before. Then they mentioned the Dimensional Scream and I must say, it surprised me. I was skeptical. But I got an idea and I got them to tell me about your little yellow friend… he told that he had lost his memory… that he only remembered being human and a name… his name. I'd heard that something went wrong with your trip through time the first time. I guessed that it was the cause of his condition. Because of his memory loss, he didn't know who I was and from there I got his trust, I even used him and his ability to get to you Grovyle. After you were captured, it was a simple matter for me to drag them here myself." Grovyle turned to look at Dusknoir again, feeling absolutely numb.

"And now here we are… all together again, about to meet _your_ end. _All _hope is gone. This is the end of the line for _you. And. Alex_!" Dusknoir declared with final triumph, a mad glee in his single eye!

o0o

Alex felt like a leaden ball had hit him on the stomach and wouldn't stop pressing. His mind was numb and blank with indescribable shock. The empty look in Grovyle's eyes as he finally turned to look at him told the worst. They both knew that Dusknoir was right and that they were doomed in this situation. Dialga's presence denied escape and Dusknoir would see to it that they were executed, leaving the past doomed to a future of darkness.

Eve looked desperately at both of them.

"C'mon Grovyle, isn't there a way out of this situation?" she said, the desperation also in her voice.

Grovyle had his teeth grit and it was clear his mind was scrambling for a plan but he shook his head violently as it failed to produce one.

"Argh…" he groaned "What _can_ we do? This situation is hopeless…" he said though he was clearly loath to admit it.

"Alex! Celebi! We have to do _some_thing!" Eve yelled at both of them but Alex was still frozen with shock and Celebi also looked unsure of what they could do in the situation. Eve looked at Alex and remembered her promise to him.

"C'mon everyone, we can't just give up!" she yelled, "We have to _think_!" she stamped her foot as the sableye closed in. Then she met eyes with Celebi and an idea came to mind. It had every chance of failing…

_Things couldn't possibly get any worse here._ Was the only thought in her mind. They had nothing left to lose that wasn't already at stake.

"Celebi! Can you make us a path through time, the short distance to the Passage?" she said quickly and quietly. Celebi looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Yes, I could but it won't be easy with Dialga present. He _controls_ time." Celebi pointed out, wide-eyed with concern.

"There's no time left to think it through! We just need a moment to get there. Just do it!"

Grovyle glanced back, amazement on his face at hearing this plan even he hadn't thought of. Celebi swallowed as she was put under pressure and took a moment to focus.

"Attack!" Dusknoir bellowed and the sableye lunged at them.

"Time to travel!" Celebi yelled before she generated a flash!

Grovyle immediately grabbed Alex and charged for the Passage across the now-clear area! Eve and Celebi charged after him! They couldn't waste this chance!

They came within no more than a foot from it. Then a red energy ripped through their vision accompanied by a loud roar and the world seemed shatter!

"That must have been Dialga!" Eve yelped, startled "Our path has been shattered!"

Dusknoir and the sableye were suddenly present again, standing behind them. Celebi quickly projected a beam of energy at the Passage, which opened into a swirling blue vortex.

"Go! Jump in! Stop the collapse of the tower! Save the future!" she yelled. Eve and Grovyle, holding Alex, dove at the portal. Dusknoir turned to see their new location.

"Stop them!" he yelled, belatedly and moved to try and grab Celebi. The sableye turned and staggered toward the portal but the three vanished into the past and Celebi turned to give Dusknoir one final, taunting smirk before she vanished in another flash of light!

He was left with nothing but a useless spark of energy where the Passage had been and a feeling of thorough humiliation from the escape.


	29. Grovyle's Story

_**This chapter is mostly exposition. Little to no action. I understand this is part of the test for the true quality of a story, so I hope this is just as good as any of the other chapters.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 28: Grovyle's Story

Alex woke up to the sound of water. His eyes were greeted with sunlight as he opened them…

His mind took a few moments to get itself in gear and actually register what these meant.

He finally managed to open his eyes and the sun was overhead, blinding him. After that experience in the future, he never thought he'd be more grateful to see it again… or feel how warm it was.

He turned his head away from it and saw blue skies and an ocean ebbing and flowing nearby…

_We made it… we're back in the past… our- no, Eve's time…Eve!_

He shot upright upon thinking of his partner. His heart calmed when he spotted Eve not far off from him. They were at the beach… he was reminded of how they had met here…

Eve soon woke up, shaking sand out of her fur.

"Where?" she murmured sleepily and looked around "the beach?" she saw him and a relieved smile spread on both their faces.

"We're back… aren't we?" she said, quickly shaking off the drowsiness.

"Looks like it," Alex responded "Thanks to you." He said and they clasped paws, affirming their partnership.

He heard a groan behind him and Alex turned around to see Grovyle also sprawled on the sand. He was just getting up and looking around.

"Sunlight… water's flowing… we made it back… yes?" Grovyle mumbled, his eyes falling on them.

"Yeah! This is where I found Alex when we first met!" Eve said excitedly. She looked around the beach again and located a spot close to a cluster rocks near the local cave.

"I found him right around here, passed out." Eve said and Alex nodded, he remembered waking up around there too.

Grovyle wiped some sand off his arms and glanced at the spot Eve was pointing at, nodding.

"Hmm… our first trip sent me into the Eastern Forest… we ended up miles from each other that first time…"

Eve grimaced as she looked around the beach.

"I want to hear a bit more about how this whole time travel-thing works but this isn't really the place… we ought to find somewhere a bit more private. How about Wigglytuff Guild?" She didn't really wait for a response though as Alex and Grovyle started to speak but she pushed on smiling "Yeah, the Guild should do, let's go."

"Hold it…" Grovyle said calmly and gently stopping her with a hand "If we go there, will I be well-received? I seem to recall everyone thought I was an outlaw last I was here." Grovyle said with an amused smile.

Eve chuckled nervously as the thought occurred to her.

"Oh… heh heh… oh yeah…" she said weakly "I almost forgot…" and blushed.

Alex held in a small laugh. She had just saved them all from a dangerous situation and now she was letting her leadership run away with her.

"You're right, we need to find somewhere more private talk and plan things out. But the Guild is too dangerous for me." Grovyle pointed out.

Then Eve perked up.

"Wait a minute, I know a place!" she then looked a bit uneasy "But we'll need to go through Treasure Town to get there."

"Shouldn't be a problem if we sneak through…" Grovyle assured her "Lead on."

o0o

After a careful trip through the brush on the edges of town, they arrived at a cliff that was just beyond the town.

Alex glanced back as they arrived.

"Don't think anyone saw us…" he murmured and followed his companions out onto the cliff.

"This is Sharpedo Bluff," Eve explained to Grovyle, who raised an eyebrow "I think it's because the cliff face looks like a sharpedo." She elaborated. Sharpedo were, as the name implied, shark-like and were shaped like missiles.

"Right…" Eve looked around for anyone hanging around the cliff "No one around…" she then shifted aside several masses of leaves and grass… to reveal a hole in the ground with a dirt stair-way going down. Grovyle blinked, a little stunned that he hadn't seen the hidden hole before Eve had uncovered it.

Eve gestured for them to go on in and Grovyle walked in, Alex following him down.

They emerged into a spacious room with a wide opening in the cliff-face to the right with teeth-like spikes of rock, pointed up and down, keeping the opening secure. To the left was a small nondescript fountain of water in the back of the cave. The rest of the room was largely empty except for a small pile of straw and material for making beds in the corner.

Eve covered the entrance back up from inside and came down, glancing around the room and sighing with relief.

"Good… no one's trashed the place… I suppose that just goes to show how little attention this place draws. I lived here before me and Alex joined the Guild."

Grovyle was finishing with taking in the room and nodded in approval.

"I would guess this is inside the… mouth of the cliff. A very suitable place. Well hidden." And he gave her a small smile of admiration. She returned the smile.

"I think we'd better rest up here. We've all been through a lot."

Grovyle and Alex nodded in agreement with this.

o0o

That evening, they had set up beds and were resting as Alex and Eve related to their new companion how the two of them had met, how they had joined the Guild, and their adventures as Team Long Ears. It took several hours to get to how Dusknoir had finally pulled them into the future. Grovyle silently listened, his attention never pulling away from them at any point. He even smirked, amused when they mentioned their team name.

When they finally finished, Grovyle sighed, a look of guilt on his face.

"To think… you're the same Alex… my partner back in the future and I almost killed you in Crystal Cave."

"It's alright…" Alex said calmly, and it was in his mind. He understood now that Grovyle had been a mission then and he had honestly not wished to kill them… but they had been determined to stop him.

"So you and Alex worked together in the future, Grovyle?" Eve said.

"Yeah, we were searching for the locations where the time gears would be in the past. Alex's ability was key in doing that."

"You mean the Dimensional Scream?" Grovyle nodded.

"How'd you know there was a time gear related every time?"

"The Dimensional Scream only works under two conditions… perhaps you just don't know them?" Grovyle said. The silence prompted him to go on.

"First off, it requires the presence of a trusted pokemon partner. Alex _never_ had visions unless I was around."

"What? But he was having visions only a day or two after we met!" Eve exclaimed.

Grovyle quirked an eyebrow.

"So? Doesn't that just show much you trusted each other from the start?" he said and Eve was momentarily dumbstruck. Alex could also feel himself flushing a little.

"Well… when you put it like that…" Eve said shyly once she recovered "It's a little embarrassing…"

"It probably helped that Alex had lost his memory so he ended up getting attached to you quickly…" Grovyle explained then blinked as if he had just noticed something. He pulled himself back to the conversation though and continued.

"At any rate, as I was saying, the Dimensional Scream only works around a trusted partner. The second condition is that it only activates where time gears are involved, hence how we could be sure a time gear was there if it triggered for us."

"That's odd…" Alex muttered "I don't think Drowzee or the waterfall cave had anything to do with time gears. Did they Eve?"

"No, for us the Dimensional Scream activated under plenty of situations completely unrelated to time gears." Eve said, speaking to Grovyle, who considered it for several moments.

He apparently couldn't think of a counter-explanation as he finally just shrugged.

"I find that odd myself… it really never did activate in the future unless a time gear was involved. Maybe it just works differently in this time."

_Well, that would explain why I got nothing from that time-frozen waterfall back there in the future._

"Alex and I went all over the land searching for the locations of those time gears and Alex impressed me at times when we were trying to find our way to those places. Crystal Cave for example-"

"The unification of the three crystals?" Alex cut-in.

"Yes, I didn't know much about Azelf but you apparently knew one or two things then and solved the problem in the end." Grovyle said, with a fond smile.

Alex was thinking of his and Eve's first trip through that cave and the Scream that had come to him there.

_It's ironic… I gave myself the answer… well, mostly…_

He hadn't recognized his own voice… but now it was no wonder it had sounded so familiar.

"Then it came time to go back to the past…" Grovyle said, his voice taking a graver tone now "Something happened in that time tunnel… I don't know what, but it generated a lot of turbulence and we got separated. We came to this world miles from each other." Grovyle was looking at Alex with a faraway look.

"I can't state how much I worried about you… but I had faith you'd pull through… I never once thought I was actually fighting you at any point." Grovyle heaved a sigh "Alex… I'm so happy to see you again, no matter what form you take…and I'm so sorry…"

Alex could feel his old friend's grief over having attacked him.

"Again Grovyle, it wasn't your fault… we were lied to and thought you were the bad guy. I guess we were all fooled…"

Grovyle rubbed his eyes with finger and thumb and then focused.

"Alright… so we're all together on this? We're going to work together collect time gears?" he said, looking at both of them.

"I'm just making sure: time stopping in the locations around the time gears is just temporary, right?" Eve said.

"Right, the moment we get those time gears in place at the top of Temporal Tower, it should reverse the slowing of time and restore time to normal everywhere."

"Alright then, we're in. Right, Alex?" They nodded to each other.

"Then let's get some sleep. It's late and we're going to have a busy day tomorrow." Grovyle said.

o0o

Grovyle woke up later that night… it was still dark out… he glanced around the room out of cautionary habit. Alex the pikachu was still dozing away on his back. However, Eve's bed was empty. He looked around more…

_Where'd Eve go?_ He glanced at the exit. _Maybe outside?_

He got up and quietly moved around Alex to the exit and went out.

A cool, refreshing sea breeze was rippling the grass on the bluff-top, giving the night air a rather enjoyable quality. Grovyle looked around the bluff and soon spotted the eevee sitting at the point of the bluff, looking over the horizon. He stepped up next to her.

"Couldn't sleep?" She glanced up at him, and yawned.

"I suppose… just thinking on a lot of things…"

"About Dusknoir?" Grovyle asked, curious.

"Sorta…" she said "I was shocked to find out he was the bad guy, yeah… but all the darkness and the still air back there in the future… it really drove it all home about how little we value these things we see everyday…" she sounded sad as she spoke.

"I'd known only that darkness all my life…" Grovyle said "When I first experienced a sun-rise in this world…" he shook head in disbelief "I was just blown away… it was just so… beautiful…" he couldn't think of a better word for it.

"Yeah… we take things like that for granted and we don't value them enough… when they're really the most precious things to us in life."

Their conversation was interrupted when light started to flood across the land and they glanced back behind them to see the sun rising. Eve breathed in, taking in the warmth and then breathed out, relaxing.

"I don't think I've ever found a sun-rise so… renewing…" she said contently "That trip in the future really opened my eyes though…"

Grovyle watched the sunrise for a short while… then he felt he needed to ask:

"Eve… back in the future… that last situation with Dusknoir and Dialga… I had given up. I saw no way out. Yet, you held on… you even managed to devise a plan where I had failed to. How did you hold on to hope through all that? I have to know." Eve blinked, a little stunned but she frowned slightly as she thought about it. She answered after a few minutes…

"To be honest… I'm not sure… but thinking back on it, I think it was because Alex was there."

Grovyle raised an eyebrow… his curiosity rising.

"Ever since I met him, Alex just seemed to radiate courage… there were so many adventures, which we told you about… and I don't think I would've been able to do a lot of them if Alex hadn't been there with me."

Eve then pulled out the pouch containing her Relic Fragment and opened it. Grovyle stared, perplexed at the unique pattern on the rock.

"This was my original inspiration: my Relic Fragment. I still haven't found the truth behind it but I think without Alex, I would never have a chance of finding out since I wouldn't have the courage to even form an exploration team. He's done so much for me." she fondly.

Grovyle took in her words quietly and then responded.

"I think I understand…" he said slowly "Back in the future when I told you about not being afraid… about sometimes just going into a situation without fear of the consequences… to be honest, that's something Alex once told me…" Grovyle admitted. The eevee blinked, somewhat awed.

"He showed me a lot about courage and it seemed like he just had a quality that drove others to keep going through even the hardest circumstances. More than once, when we were in a tight spot or I was facing uncertainty, he'd tell me that… or something along those lines. It seemed like it never failed to motivate me to keep going or to try something when we were short on time… even if it seemed insane at the time." Grovyle finished, chuckling to himself. He found it ironic now that he had given Alex's quote to him and his partner.

Eve smiled in response and then yawned again, getting up and stretching. She then put the Relic Fragment away as she spoke.

"Well, it's morning… we'd better get ready to go." She said and led the way back down the stairs.

Grovyle followed, he glanced at the sunrise one last time… a sad grimace crossing his face, but he quickly banished it and joined his companions down below.


	30. Time Stop

_**Another chapter. I've been a bit occupied but I managed to get out this chapter.**_

_**My sense of direction has been a bit off. I might have East and West mixed up but hopefully, my locations are consistent.**_

_**Anyways, enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 29: Time Stop

"So, which time gear do we go after first then?" Grovyle said, having borrowed Team Long Ear's wonder map and spread it out on the ground inside the cave. Alex was awake now, still drowsy but quickly waking up.

"I'd say the one in the desert, that one's closest." Eve suggested, pointing to it.

Alex frowned grumpily… he was not looking forward to another visit to that desert, even if Grovyle was with them. He was about to protest about going there when Grovyle saved him from doing so:

"How about Treeshroud Forest? That's where I got my first one when I came here the first time."

"Where's that?" Eve asked, looking over the map. Grovyle pointed to a forest far to the northeast, north of Mt. Horn.

"I know it's a bit far but there's no guardian over that time gear so we won't draw attention to ourselves so quickly." Grovyle pointed out.

Alex wasn't too thrilled at the distance but he liked the idea of the forest better than the desert and was relieved when Eve agreed to it.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Even if it's for the best, I'd rather not fight Uxie or any of them anyhow."

"Alright, we're all agreed then?" Grovyle said, closing up the map "Then let's move out!"

o0o

They arrived at the Forest in plenty of time. They had been able to take it easier with their pace since they were no longer on the run from Dusknoir and his minions.

"Alright we're here- hm?" Grovyle started and went silent, looking around the forest. Something had gotten his attention.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, ready for a fight already. Grovyle shook his head.

"No, it's nothing… something just seemed odd about the air but it must just be my imagination… we'll go when you're ready." Grovyle said.

There was a Kangaskhan statue nearby and Alex took the time to repack their bag before they entered the forest.

Inside the forest, were plenty of psychic-type pokemon. One of the first pokemon they encountered was ralts, which had green dome-shaped shells over their heads with an odd red horn of some sort sticking out. The rest of a ralt's body was white.

They also ran across abra and kadabra, which were vaguely humanoid in shape and had somewhat triangular heads; there was definitely no mistaking them for human though. The latter also wielded an odd spoon in one hand.

Grovyle edged away from the front whenever they encountered a ninetails, which was a fire-type fox pokemon with, as the name indicated, nine tails.

Alex led the way and electrocuted most of their opponents. He rarely ended up getting hit by a psychic attack, as he had gotten quite strong over the past several days (he couldn't be sure how long they'd been in the future exactly). Eve also handled the few opponents that got to her easily as the psychic types did not like Eve trying to bite them. She too, had grown in strength as well.

Grovyle took a back seat for most of the forest. The opponents weren't that difficult and his two companions were strong enough to stand for themselves.

As they traveled, Alex had conversations with both of his partners, old and new.

"Hey Eve… I've been meaning to apologize about how I froze up back in the future-" he said but Eve laughed light-heartedly mid-sentence.

"Don't worry about it, Alex." She laughed "We got out alive after all, right?"

Alex scratched the back of his head, unsure about it.

"Oh c'mon, it's not like you haven't had moments where you messed up." Eve said noticing his expression and nudging him "It's not like you're perfect. I've never expected that of you once and isn't the saying that you learn more from your mistakes?" she said and he could tell she was trying to encourage him.

"If we survive them…" Alex muttered to himself.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Eve quipped in response. Alex's depressive mood broke and he laughed.

"You got that right." He said as they took down another opponent in little time.

"That's better." Eve said, grinning "I like to see you happy."

Alex gave her a big smile and then ruffled the fur on her head. She nudged him again, harder and their fooling around might've escalated if Grovyle hadn't stepped in and gotten them back on-task.

"Kids…" he grumbled and rolled his eyes, chuckling to himself when both of them burst out laughing from overhearing him.

After a few hours of exploration, they arrived at a deeper part of the forest and things got darker and grass started becoming sparse on the ground. It was now mostly trees around them and few other plants.

Alex found himself walking alongside Grovyle as they traveled with Eve watching their backs for tailing opponents.

It occurred to Alex that he hadn't seen any humans in this world or the future, himself aside and even then, he was no longer human except in mind. This led him to ask Grovyle:

"How'd I end up fighting alongside you in the future?"

Grovyle wasn't particularly surprised by the question.

"You yourself told me you weren't sure how you ended up where we were." Grovyle said, thinking through what he was saying carefully "You don't remember, but you told me that you had been traveling somewhere from some distant land or somewhere… the… ship you were travelling on, something happened to it. You weren't sure what had happened then but you told me you ended up there after floating through the ocean. I really don't know that much about you aside from what I experienced alongside you and let me tell you: even though you've lost your memory, you haven't really changed. You're still as defensive of your friends as ever. I always thought it would get you killed and it nearly did at my own hands…"

Grovyle wouldn't drop that bit of guilt it seemed.

"Oh for crying out loud…" Alex groaned as he saw the guilt "Will you drop that already? I already told you: it's all right. I'm just fine now and we're together again. Cheer up." Grovyle managed a small grin "That's better. Now c'mon, let's get that time gear and put this forest behind us." Alex said and marched ahead in high spirits.

o0o

Alex's good mood took a dip when they arrived at what felt like the center of the forest.

Grovyle stopped as they arrived, staring at the forest…

"Time… it…it's stopped here." He murmured in mild shock.

Alex and Eve looked around, seeing what he was saying. The entire area was a dull gray and the air was unnaturally still. Alex immediately felt unsettled by this.

"Uxie and his companions… they said they were going to put the time gears back, didn't they?" Eve said, looking around with concern etched on her features.

"Yeah, before we got dragged into the future, I specifically recall Dusknoir leaving the task of returning the time gears to them." Alex said, uneasy "I'd think they would've held their word on that."

"Maybe they just haven't done it yet?" Eve suggested hopefully.

"Only one way to check." Grovyle said, his voice was tense. He walked deeper into the stopped area and Alex and his partner followed him.

They arrived at a small pool with a green item hovering in air, an intricate pattern glowing around it.

"This is a time gear… no mistaking it…" Grovyle said looking at the item, he didn't sound reassured though from finding it.

Eve looked at a near by tree, which had dewdrops on it. One drop was falling off a leaf but the water was suspended in mid-air.

"Then why is time stopped here? See this? This is just frozen in mid-air like this… what's going on?" Eve said, confused.

Grovyle grimaced as he listened, then turned to the time gear and removed it from its place without a word. The pattern faded from the air.

Things immediately darkened and it felt as if time had just died in the area, making Alex feel mildly ill.

"Grovyle! What are you doing, taking that so haphazardly?" Eve exclaimed. Grovyle shrugged in response.

"Time's already stopped here. It doesn't matter what I do with the time gear here now…" he didn't look happy though. "I don't like this… we need to go back to town to plan again." He said and he was clearly uneasy.

"When we get there Eve, I want you do a little recon around town. Just listen around Treasure Town and get the local word. Once you've got the general news, return to our hiding place and let us know." Eve agreed to this and they headed back.

o0o

Alex and Grovyle snuck past town as Eve went elsewhere around town to listen in and they sat down in the cave once inside, resting.

Perhaps ten minutes later, Eve came in.

"What's the news?" Grovyle asked.

"The word is… not very good…" she said grimly "Uxie and the guardians returned the time gears to their proper locations and everyone was happy because they thought time would return to normal. But time didn't return to normal in the areas. I think we saw that for ourselves… anyways, everyone's worried again because time is continuing to stop, no one can figure out what the problem is and the… stoppage is spreading."

Grovyle listened to this, his expression grave.

"So what does this mean?" Eve asked. Grovyle answered after a moment.

"It means we're running out of time. The problem is escalating. Temporal Tower must be nearing collapse now." Grovyle said; he looked like his mind was racing. Team Long Ears exchanged nervous looks.

"We're going to have to split up." Grovyle finally said "I'll continue to go after the time gears, I can probably get it done fastest."

"What do we do then?" Alex asked, some desperation in his tones.

"You two… we need to find Temporal Tower and to do that, we need to find the Hidden Land."

Both were promptly wondering what the Hidden Land was.

"Temporal Tower is found in the Hidden Land." Grovyle explained "But as the name indicates, the Hidden Land is… hidden. We're going to have to find it, even if it means crossing the ocean to do it. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about how to find it or where so I'm afraid you're on your own. All I can do is wish all three of us luck. I'm heading out."

Neither of them could think of anything to say in response and so Grovyle turned and headed out.

"Alright… so we need to find the Hidden Land…" Eve said, focusing herself on the idea.

There was an awkward silence between them…

"Uhhh… so um, where do we start?" Eve said, giving Alex a look begging for suggestions.

Unfortunately, Alex had nothing as well. Eve looked around, apparently hoping for inspiration.

"Uh… maybe if we go down to the beach…?" Eve suggested uncertainly. Alex shrugged and they headed out, past town.

o0o

They arrived at the beach, the sun shining low in the sky, nearing the horizon. The beach was empty aside from themselves.

"Alright… so here we are at the beach…" Eve said, lamely and looked out at the ocean. Another few moments of silence…

"Argh…" Eve groaned, slapping a paw over her head "I'm drawing a blank here… and the clock's ticking… or rather the land's clock is coming to a halt… you know what I mean…" she said, desperation edging into her tones.

Alex was feeling just as hopeless.

_We're running out of time and we've got absolutely nothing to run on… It would be nice if we had some more help…_

Alex thought over things more and he realized one thing:

_We can't do this alone. We need help here. Alright then…_

"Eve, let's go Wigglytuff's Guild." His partner turned around, surprised by the sudden demand.

"What? Why the Guild?" she said, "Yeah, I miss everyone too but still…"

"Everyone should be informed of the truth." Alex said simply. Eve looked doubtful at this.

"I don't know if anyone would believe us Alex… I mean, it took a lot from Grovyle just to get us to believe it… and everyone really respects Dusknoir…" Eve started to trail off and Alex could see her point. His ear flopped into sight as he sighed, thinking it over more.

_Eve has a point… it's all true... but…_

"Let's tell them anyway." Alex said defiantly.

Eve started to protest again, asking why they should bother.

"_Because we need everyone's help for this!_" Alex finally yelled, throwing his arms into the air. Eve looked a little surprised at his outburst.

"In the end Eve, we're just two explorers. We can't do this alone. We need help and we shouldn't be afraid to look for it. Grovyle initially offered to help us back in the future and we had a hard time of it when we turned him down. We _can't_ do this alone, Eve." He said insistently.

He would've liked to say they could do this all on their own and it hurt a little to acknowledge this vulnerability but he saw how this was better than letting the world come to ruin all because of his pride. Eve blinked, stunned but she recovered, listening and then nodded as Alex finished.

"Alright then…" she said and Alex looked up, smiling as he heard the determination in her voice.

"Let's go to Wigglytuff's Guild then and tell them. Even if we have to tie someone down and force-feed them words, eh?"

Alex snorted at the humor.

"C'mon silly, let's go already." He laughed and they turned and headed for the guild.


	31. Friendship

_**Alright, I've redone this chapter. I'm kinda veering off from what happens in the game at one point but hopefully, this makes the chapter a bit better than it was; make it so the event doesn't seem quite so "contrived" as Tanon has pointed out. Even I felt it's wasn't exactly a great chapter before.**_

_**Believe me, rewriting this wasn't all that easy. Please review again, I'd like to know if I've improved this or not.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 30: Friendship

Team Long Ears were soon standing before the Guild entrance, which had the metal gate over it as usual.

"Okay, we're here…" Eve said calmly but she was grimacing "but it feels a little odd coming back like this… I mean we vanished on everyone just that and all-"

Eve cut herself off, shaking her head.

"No, nevermind… this is no time for cold feet. I'll step on the grate." And she stepped up.

The usual shouted exchange came from below and Eve calmly stood and waited as Diglett analyzed her footprint. However, when it came time to ID her, Diglett's voice became shaky.

"The-the footprint is… T-that's…"

"Diglett! Respond! HEY! Where do you think you're GOING?" Loudred yelled below. There was a commotion below and then a great uproarious "**WHAT**?" from what sounded like the entire guild.

A moment later, Diglett popped out of the ground just outside the guild.

"It _is_ Eve!" He yelled excitedly "And Alex! _They're back_!" he yelled, overjoyed to see them.

"Diglett! It's good to see you too!" Eve said cheerily. She might've said more but the guild gate opening up and everyone from the guild pouring out interrupted her. Sunflora was hyper with excitement. Loudred looked shocked to see them again. Bidoof was overwhelmed with emotion, unable to even get out a complete sentence. The others looked just as excited as Diglett to see them returned.

Eve was just as happy to see them, as emotional tears were in her eyes. Alex himself was touched that everyone was so happy about their return.

"Everyone… we're back…" she said softly and happily.

Then they parted and the Guildmaster stepped out.

"Alex, Eve… welcome home." Wigglytuff said calmly but just as happily as he had ever been.

o0o

Team Long Ears had everyone meet on the second floor of the guild, where they had privacy. There, they shared their story and explained what they needed, standing in the middle of the ring of guild members. But as they were finishing, Chatot halted them.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" he said hurriedly "Let me just get this all straight…" he said like they had just thrown the words at him all at once, though Alex had left the explanation all to Eve (he only put in an extra word or two now and then).

"Okay, so according to you, Dusknoir isn't the benevolent, good pokemon we thought he was. In actuality, he was a vile pokemon out to kill both of you and Grovyle because you're trying to prevent time stopping."

"I didn't say Dusknor was 'vile' but that's right…" Eve said

"And Grovyle isn't a criminal set on causing the ruin of world but is a hero trying to prevent it and Alex was his partner in the past. Now he's back and is trying to collect the time gears again…" Chatot continued to sum it up. Eve nodded. "And now, you're saying that you need find a place called the 'Hidden Land' so you can find this 'Temporal Tower' where you'll set the time gears in place to prevent time stopping. Is that the entirety of your story?"

Alex and Eve both nodded. Alex felt they had been plenty clear in their explanation and didn't see why Chatot felt he needed to go over it again.

Chatot looked quite skeptical, and Alex could figure that it was for good reason given what they'd just gone over.

He laughed lightly.

"Come now... I've never heard of this place called the Hidden Land. And I'm the head of intelligence here in the guild."

"We aren't making this up." Alex insisted.

"After what we saw when we were saying farewell to Dusknoir, I can understand anything against Dusknoir. But Grovyle? He was stealing time gears! How can we trust someone like that? How can you be sure he wasn't lying as well?"

Alex grimaced. He had no way of proving any statements true or false concerning Grovyle. Chatot apparently took his silence as confirmation of what he believed.

"See? Your story is so fantastical that no one is going to believe it!" Chatot said rather sharply and Alex winced.

"Um... I believe them..." Bidoof said hesitantly. Chatot looked at him, stunned.

"What? You believe them? That Dusknoir is a villain?"

Bidoof looked uncomfortable since everyone was suddenly paying attention to him.

"Oof... well, it's hard to think of the Great Dusknoir like that..." Bidoof straighten up as he spoke, sounding more and more determined "But if I'm going to put anyone first, it's my guild friends!"

Alex found himself stunned by Bidoof's determined attitude. He was normally rather reserved and shy.

"To be honest... I'm more than willing to believe them." Sunflora looked a little abashed as she spoke.

One-by-one, the apprentices spoke up, some shyly, some eagerly... one loudly; that they all believed Team Long Ears and their story.

Alex was touched... he'd met some rough attitudes from the various apprentices at times and he was good friends with many of them now. But he could hardly believe they were all willing to stand up for him and Eve. Eve looked overjoyed at their faith in them. Chatot looked astonished as he looked about at everyone.

Then Wigglytuff stepped up.

"Well, hiya. Looks like we all agree!" he said as cheerfully as ever.

"HOLD on, Guildmaster," Loudred cut-in and the Guildmaster looked his way, curious "WE all believe it but CHATOT apparently doesn't."

Wigglytuff smiled brightly.

"You sure? I think Chatot believed them the whole time. Isn't that right, Chatot?"

Chatot brought up a wing, covering his face and shook a little. Alex soon realized the parrot was chuckling to himself.

"Well, there's no fooling you, is there Guildmaster?" he said, lowering his wing again revealing a big grin on his face.

"Yes... I believed them from the start."

Loudred looked unamused. Alex blinked... Chatot was one heck of an actor as he had had Alex convinced he didn't believe it.

"If I had just said as much from the start, I have little doubt you all would have just gone with me. I wanted to test your friendship: how much you all trust each other. I can see now that you two, Team Long Ears, are well-trusted." He then went back to chuckling to himself.

"Alex, Eve... no matter what happens, I know I can trust you two. Never be afraid to come to us for help." Wigglytuff said gently.

The guildmaster then directed his voice to the rest of guild.

"Alright everyone, we know from what Alex and Eve have told us and what's been happening that our world is in danger so we're all going to work together to find the Hidden Land!" he announced.

"Oh my gosh! Someone should also go tell Uxie and the other guardians about this or they might try to stop Grovyle!" She and Corphish almost immediately volunteered themselves for the task afterwards.

The others immediately set into a buzz about where to look for the Hidden Land.

Wigglytuff approached Alex and Eve.

"I don't know anything about the Hidden Land myself, but you might try asking Torkoal."

Eve blinked and Alex was sure he'd heard the name before. Chatot hopped up.

"Torkoal is the town elder. He likes to relax at the Hot Spring, in fact, I'm sure that's where you'll be able to find him."

That sparked their memory.

"Oh yeah, that nice, old pokemon." Eve said fondly as they both remembered the smoke-spouting turtle, "He was so nice to us when we first went to the Hot Spring."

"I just hope he does know something or we might have trouble finding the Hidden Land." Alex murmured "We'd best move out ASAP." He told Eve and she was just agreeing when Chimecho interrupted the conversation.

"Hey, but first you ought to get some dinner and rest up! You must be hungry after all you've been through!"

"Huh?" Both of them glanced at Chimecho, and all conversation suddenly halted. As if responding to being mentioned, both of their stomachs growled.

"Oops…" Eve chuckled shyly "I guess we were so focused on stopping the disaster, we've kinda been forgetting ourselves."

"I'll fix up a nice big meal for the both of you!" Chimecho said happily. Alex's stomach growled again and he flushed red in the face.

Loudred laughed.

"Would you listen to THAT! Alex is letting his stomach is bark back at Chimecho!"

Everyone roared with laughter, including Alex. He couldn't help thinking at the time:

_It really is nice to be home again with everyone._

They headed to the mess hall for dinner and headed to bed, the task for tomorrow on the forefront of their minds.


	32. The Key to the Hidden Land

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 31: The Key to the Hidden Land

The next day, Alex and Eve attended the morning meeting, where Chatot reviewed their tasks. Some were going to ask around town about the Hidden Land, others would go exploring for clues about the locale or the place itself (though that was doubtful to draw any results). There was a lot to do.

Alex and his partner were also reminded to ask Torkoal about the Hidden Land.

They decided to save themselves a little footwork and rather than walking to the Hot Spring, they decided to take the "fun route" and go to Waterfall Cave. It was a shorter distance to the cave and it would likely take them one day less to get to the Hot Spring, being that it was so far away by foot.

The residents of the cave were absolutely no challenge to either of them by this point. After having been through a race for their lives in the future and dealt with desert heat and electrical storms, the cave was nothing in comparison.

They soon reached the bottom and pushed in the switch-gem in the back, they then braced themselves as the wave of water came gushing at them.

Being that they expected it this time, Alex and Eve actually found themselves enjoying the wet ride. It had been scary the first time, now it was exciting on a second time through.

They landed in the waters of the Hot Spring, feeling that they had thoroughly enjoyed the trip and then refocused themselves on what they were there for. There weren't many pokemon at the spring today. But as expected, Torkoal was perched on the heated rocks of the spring, apparently just lying down and napping under the pleasant afternoon sun. He had been jolted awake by the water erupting and spitting them out but was happy to see them again.

"Come to enjoy the hot spring again, my young friends?" he said, giving a friendly smile. They climbed out of the water and approached Torkoal, standing on the rocks

"Actually, we wanted to ask you about something." Alex explained as he shook off excess water in his fur. The elder's curiosity was immediately aroused.

"Well then, go ahead, I'm listening."

"We were wondering if you knew anything about a place called the Hidden Land." Eve said, having also finished getting rid of excess moisture.

Torkoal took a moment to collect his thoughts then nodded.

"Yes… I know about the stories of that place… it's only a legend and, mind you, it's _very_ old and has only been passed along by words and stories alone so I likely do not know everything about it."

"Please, anything that might help us." Alex said, excited now that they had a source of information.

"Well…" Torkoal began "It's said that the Hidden Land is found in a faraway place that can only be found by a particular few who are chosen. Where that might be, I do not know but I do know that in order to get there, one must be one of those chosen."

"Eh… how do you know if you're the chosen?" Alex asked, his eyebrows raised.

Torkoal frowned as he tried to remember and turned to look off to the side. If he had had hands and weren't on four legs, he might've scratched his head, trying to remember.

"Er… what was it again…?" he mumbled

His expression brightened, and as if acting as his version of a "light bulb", a geyser of smoke erupted from the top of his shell, and he turned to them again.

"Oh yes, you need proof to show that you are chosen! That's right." He said confidently.

Eve, of course, asked the obvious question: "What kind of proof?"

Once again, the old turtle's memory seemed to be slow to recall.

He took a minute to try and remember as white smoke billowed from his shell, but in the end, he tutted to himself, shaking his head sadly.

"My apologies, I've forgotten." He said, sounding mildly embarassed.

Alex couldn't help feeling a little letdown but didn't blame Torkoal.

"Well, at least we know we need proof of some sort to get there so that's a start." Eve said, trying to cheer Alex and herself up.

"If there's anything else you'd like to know, please don't hesitate to ask." Torkoal said, giving them another warm smile as they left.

o0o

The news that awaited them at the guide wasn't surprising but it still disappointed the team.

"No luck finding anything about the Hidden Land?" Eve said sadly.

Everyone glanced at each other, shrugging. No one had found any clues, whatsoever. Team Long Ears shared what they had learned from Torkoal and Wigglytuff nodded.

"Well, we at least know one more thing about the Hidden Land. That's better than nothing!" he said, his mood as cheery as ever.

"But we're running out of time…" Eve murmured, downcast despite the uplifting mood from the guildmaster.

"Well, we'll call it a day today and continue searching tomorrow. I'm sure we'll find something." Chatot said firmly, and so they had dinner and went to bed.

o0o

The next day, soon after the morning meeting, everyone paused on their way out when Loudred and Diglett announced that Torkoal was at the guild entrance.

The turtle was breathing hard when he came in, smoke spewing from his shell every time he exhaled.

"Whew… those steps… up to the guild… are_ murder_ on these old bones of mine…" he groaned. It occurred to Eve the possible reason why he had visited then.

"Torkoal, did you remember something?"

Torkoal huffed a bit more, catching his breath.

"Yes… I did. But I'm afraid… it's something small."

Wigglytuff's eyes brightened.

"Anything you know would be helpful! Please, tell us! Tell us!" he said, excited.

Torkoal's breathing eased as he continued.

"I'm afraid it really _is_ quite small, but after you two left, I was thinking over what we had talked about and I remembered as I was just staring at the water. You remember I said that you need proof to enter the Hidden Land, correct?"

They nodded.

"Well, that proof has an insignia on it. It is a pattern." Torkoal inclined his head as he thought some more "I'm sure if I saw the pattern, I'd know it. However, it's so intricate and unique… I can't find the words to describe it."

"An intricate and UNIQUE pattern?" Loudred said, puzzled "You'd think ANYONE could think of a pattern like that…"

"It's not as easy as it sounds though…" Sunflora commented. Alex frowned as he contemplated the new information.

_A pattern…  
><em>_Intricate… unique…  
><em>_Why is it that I feel like I've seen a pattern like that?  
><em>_Wait a minute!_

He turned to Eve, his eyes brightening.

"Eve! Your relic fragment!"

"What? What about-" she then gasped as she realized what he was getting at "Oh! Okay!"

She pulled out the pouch and opened it up.

"Torkoal, sir. Is this the pattern?" she asked.

Torkoal looked down at the rock and after moment, he blinked, astonished as he stared at the pattern.

"Why… this is it! This is the pattern! I'm certain of it!" he said, clearly surprised.

"So this means we can go the Hidden Land?" Eve said excitedly. Wigglytuff meanwhile, stepped up closer and glanced down at the pattern, Chatot alongside him. Torkoal looked a little confused.

"Whether or not you can go to the Hidden Land… I wouldn't know… but why are you so interested anyways? It's only a story after all… you're not actually_ looking _for the Hidden Land are you?"

"Yep, we are." Wigglytuff said happily. Torkoal blinked again, stunned.

"My my…" he murmured "I never thought for a moment…"

Then the guildmaster glanced at Chatot.

"We've seen this pattern before, haven't we Chatot?" Wigglytuff commented.

"Yes…" Chatot said, sounding a little nervous "At Brine Cave… but guildmaster, wasn't that where-"

"Yes… that vicious pokemon was there…" Wigglytuff said, sounding serious for once.

The apprentices were all surprised at the news at the their two leaders knew the pattern.

"Alright…" Chatot nodded, also looking serious "Everyone, we'll prepare to head to Brine Cave today and go tomorrow. We'll need to be well prepared for the cave." Chatot announced

Torkoal laughed heartily.

"Oh my, you've gotten even me excited! I can scarcely remember the last time I was so excited. It reminds me of the days when I was always thinking of adventure. I've gotten so old that I've lost my shine for those things… that's quite sad…" he said shaking his head at the shame of it all. He then turned and headed for the exit in high spirits.

"Thank you for the information Torkoal!" Eve called after him.

"No problem." Torkoal said, laughing happily and climbed his way up and out of the guild, some pokemon trying to help him up when needed.

Everyone started to head out as well to prepare for Brine Cave.

Alex paused as he overheard Wigglytuff and his lieutenant discussing something.

"But Guildmaster, I can handle it now! Please! Take me to Brine Cave!" Chatot said, pleading.

Wigglytuff shook his head, sounding very concerned.

"Nope… I can't risk that happening to you again. Besides, I've got something else to do so you'll all be on your own tomorrow without me. That's why I want you with Team Long Ears if you're going to insist on going."

Chatot looked a little disappointed at first but looked determined when the guildmaster mentioned him going with Alex and Eve.

Eve dragged Alex off to get ready for the trip before he could hear any more.

o0o

After they had purchased supplies at the market and restocked their bag properly for the trip, Eve mentioned checking the old hide-out before heading back.

"Grovyle might be there. I want to be sure to talk to him if we get the opportunity." She explained.

They headed out onto the Bluff and went in. However, the cave was empty, except for a note that had been clearly written in a hurry. It was pinned to the ground with a small rock to keep it from blowing away in the wind.

"He must have left this for us." Eve said and they both read the note.

_Dear Alex and Eve,_

_I've gotten two more time gears now and have learned from meeting with Uxie of how you've gotten everyone to trust us now.  
><em>_This is very encouraging however, I will remain hidden for now. For one, I can't be sure everyone trusts me. And second, there is still the possibility Dusknoir will come for us again._

Eve grimaced as she read that last line.

"I almost forgot about him. I wouldn't put it past him to come after us…" Eve commented then turned back to the letter.

_I should have the remaining time gears soon. If we need to meet, find me either here at the cave or at the beach. I hope to see you two soon. Together, we will stop the collapse of Temporal Tower.  
><em>_Grovyle_

"Maybe he's at the beach." Alex suggested. They nodded in agreement and headed outside.

o0o

They soon arrived at the beach… but it too was clear of anyone on the sand and it was already getting late as the sun sank into the horizon.

"Hmm… not here…" Eve murmured, disappointed, then looked at the sunset "But at least the sunset is beautiful."

After a moment, she glanced around, looking curious.

"Strange… it's a nice evening, yet the krabby aren't out blowing bubbles… oh well…" she then glanced at Alex "Y'know… it's kind of nostalgic… we met here under almost the same circumstances."

Alex smiled as the memories came back. Eve pulled out the Relic Fragment, looking at it.

"My relic fragment started our team and now we're going use it to go to the Hidden Land. Who'd have thought…?" she chuckled at the mild irony.

Alex blinked and squinted as he gazed at the setting sun. He could swear he saw a figure (who was only a shadow against the sun), silently swimming across the oceanic horizon. It soon vanished though and Alex decided it must have been his imagination.

"Well, we'd probably better get back to the guild." Alex said, a little sad to be leaving the scene.

They didn't notice a small group hiding downwind, in a corner, having eavesdropped on the conversation.


	33. Brine Cave

**_Here's a chapter I'm hoping is as good as I feel it is._**

**_Enjoy._**

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 32: Brine Cave

At the guild, they found that the guildmaster had left, as Alex had overheard him saying he was going to do. Chatot stopped them as they came in.

"Tomorrow, the two of you will be travelling with me when we go to Brine Cave. I expect both of you to not slow me down, do you understand?"

Alex felt the warning of his expectations was unnecessary but they agreed to it. Chatot then turned to his business of finishing preparations for tomorrow.

The guild had dinner and went to bed.

o0o

The next day, the morning meeting revealed that the guildmaster was still gone on his errand.

"Well, today we're heading for Brine Cave. I trust everyone is prepared?" Chatot said, looking over the group.

"HEY, where's the guildmaster?" Loudred called. Chatot looked a bit nervous without Wigglytuff backing him up for the meeting.

"Er… I wouldn't know… the guildmaster had his own business to attend to." he admitted but straightened, putting on a brave face.

"But there's no need for concern. In his absence, you have _me!_"

If Chatot had been expecting a round of applause in response to this, he was disappointed. Rather what followed was an awkward silence and he looked at the apprentices, looking stunned.

"What? Do you doubt my ability to lead?" he said, sounding hurt. "Am-Am I… useless to you?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that…" Bidoof said uneasily.

"It just doesn't feel safe without the guildmaster…" Chimecho said timidly.

Alex could sense the unease in everyone from Wigglytuff's absence. Then Eve spoke.

"Hey, just because Wigglytuff isn't here, doesn't mean we have reason to be worried. We need to be able to work without him." She said confidently to everyone.

"She's right!" Sunflora said after a moment "We can't rely on the guildmaster for everything! Let's do this!"

"Chatot! We need you to lead us!" Eve called to the front of the room. Chatot looked a little startled being addressed like this. He blinked, bringing up a wing in a way saying "Me?"

"Without Wigglytuff here, we only have you Chatot." Sunflora said, encouraging him "Lead us."

Chatot looked abashed… he looked away from the group, apparently a bit shy under his burden of leadership.

"HEY! Are we going to get GOING?" Loudred roared.

Chatot straightened up again.

"I'm getting there!" the parrot said and then cleared his throat. "Now then, everyone. Let us all excel together!" he said loudly, prompting the usual dismissing cheer from everyone. Chatot's words were a little silly but the unease everyone was feeling vanished nonetheless. With that, they finally headed out.

o0o

Before long, they arrived at Brine Cave. The air was thick with sea-spray and it was heavily tanged with the taste of salt.

"Alright, this is Brine Cave where the guildmaster and myself saw the pattern on Eve's Relic Fragment. It should be in the deepest part of the cavern, but it is also where that vicious pokemon appeared."

"Um… what kind of pokemon was it?" Bidoof asked nervously.

"I'm afraid I can't remember…" Chatot said sadly and everyone cried "What?"

"The first time we came here, they took the guildmaster and myself by surprise. As much as I hate to admit it, I was knocked out immediately and when I woke up, the guildmaster was tending to my wounds. I never saw my attackers." Chatot explained.

The concept of this unknown attacker made the previous unease return.

"Hold on a minute…" Eve said, confused "Chatot, you say that there is a vicious pokemon but you said just now '_they'_ took you and guildmaster by surprise."

Chatot closed his eyes, thinking.

"No… there was one vicious pokemon… but he wasn't alone." Then he opened his eyes, wide with realization "Wait, I remember one thing: when I was attacked, I was slammed with water! Like a tidal wave."

The apprentices looked at one another. Dugtrio looked uneasy. Being a ground-type, water attacks were a natural fear for him. The nervousness in the group went down again as they felt more confidence from knowing what was coming though they were still nervous, thinking about facing someone so tough.

"At any rate, we need to get moving." Chatot said "You may all group up as you wish but Team Long Ears will travel with me. Understood?"

Everyone nodded and they headed in, traveling all in their own groups. Alex and Eve were, of course, with Chatot.

There were copious amounts of water-types in the cave.

One of the first ones they encountered was seel. The seal was cute in a way but had some nasty ice-type moves such as when it generated several little shards of ice and launched them at the group. It was clearly tougher than what the team had dealt with at Craggy Coast.

Alex endured getting pelted with the ice and fried the seal.

A kingler, an evolved krabby with one enormous claw, attempted to sneak up on Chatot at one point, but the parrot noticed and quickly proved just how powerful Wigglytuff's lieutenant was. The bird squawked so loudly that Alex was sure the kingler was being given a severe headache by the fact that the sound was directed at it.

It attempted to grab Chatot with its claw but the parrot hopped into the air over the attack and pecked the king crab hard, squarely between the eyes. It was KOed by the attack and Chatot dusted himself off.

"Honestly, you two can't expect me to do _all _the work." He laughed, brimming with confidence. Alex rolled his eyes but continued onwards.

Another resident of the cave were omanyte, which Alex could've only described as a little blue octopus, in a spiral, snail-like shell. Also being a water-type, these were little trouble for Alex.

It wasn't long before they reach a point where it looked like they could rest.

"This looks to be about half way…" Chatot said, looking around.

Then a familiar trio came charging in and slammed both Alex and Eve, knocking them clean down and stealing the Relic Fragment off of Eve.

"Whoops! Excuuuuuse me." Koffing said, not guilty for even a moment. It was Team Skull, again.

"You three?" Alex exclaimed as he got back to his feet.

Skuntank chuckled as he pocketed the Fragment.

"That old-timer mentioned something about the Hidden Land and we did a little… interrogating. Never thought your little treasure would be the key."

Chatot looked surprised to see them as well, though he looked actually relieved.

"Where have you been? Ever since the Lake, I've been worried about your well-being."

"What? You're _still_ falling for that?" Koffing responded, incredulous and apparently dropping all pretenses.

"What a lot of nincompoops… just waiting to be fleeced…" Skuntank muttered.

Chatot looked utterly confused.

_Please Chatot, get a clue…_ Alex thought.

"Chatot, Team Skull are a bunch of crooks." Eve said bluntly.

"You'd have to be an idiot to not realize that by now." Zubat commented, sounding just as incredulous as Koffing.

"Well, see you later, we're off to discover the Hidden Land!" Skuntank said and barreled through Alex and Eve, knocking them sprawling to the sides, with his two lackeys following.

Chatot stood in stun-silence for several moments, then his temper flared. He fluttered in place, feathers flying in his rage.

"W-w-what? Take _me _for a fool, will they? I'll show _them_ a thing or two!" Chatot said hotly and before either Alex or his partner could speak, Chatot rushed off after Team Skull.

"Chatot, _wait!_" Eve yelled after him but the parrot vanished into the deeper portions of Brine Cave. Alex groaned.

"C'mon, we've got to go after him!" Alex said, advancing "There's still those one pokemon up ahead to worry about! Chatot probably won't be able to take them alone!" Eve didn't argue and followed Alex.

Alex and his partner quickly lost track of where Chatot went in the cave so they decided to just go deeper. Considering that Team Skull wanted to find the Hidden Land, they'd be going deeper too so that was the only way to go, logically.

The pokemon at this point though, became considerably tougher. Rather than seel, they started having run-ins with dewgong, which were larger than seel. Alex had to jump out of the way of an attack where one dewgong suddenly formed an ice crystal where Alex had been standing. Had he remained in place, Alex was sure he would've been frozen so thoroughly, he'd have been done in right then. He quickly released an intense blast of electricity at the dewgong, electrocuting it into unconsciousness.

They had also been encountering dragonair, which were long, serpentine dragon-types that were graceful and even beautiful, but also quite powerful and resistant to Alex's electricity. They were also tougher in these deeper parts of the cave and when Alex slammed one over the head with his tail, it decided to respond in-kind, lashing out with its bigger tail.

Alex was knocked back and Eve stepped up to defend him. She evaded the hostile dragon's tail and sank her little fangs into its body. The attack surprised it and Alex took the opportunity to dart forward and smack it hard. The dragon went down.

"Chatot shouldn't be too far ahead…" Alex mumbled, eating an Oran berry to recover his strength and they rushed onwards.

o0o

They were surprised when they came into a room to find Team Skull on the ground. Skuntank was on his side, clutching his chest with his front legs. Koffing and Zubat were each lying flat on their backs.

"Whoa," Eve gasped as she looked over them "Did you guys get ambushed by a mysterious group of pokemon?"

Koffing winced as he attempted to move. He chuckled weakly.

"You knew that was coming? Woulda been good to know…" he said, managing a joking smile.

"Not that you would've told us…" Zubat grunted, also laughing weakly.

"Are you okay?" Eve said, concern arising for them. Alex couldn't help being a little worried that Skuntank's wounds were fatal. He had large gashes across his body. Sure, he'd wanted to fry the oversized skunk for his antics in the past, but he had _never_ wished any of Team Skull _dead_.

"You've got us at your mercy…" Skuntank grunted, glancing at them with one eye "and you're worried about how we are? How sickeningly caring can you two get?" he groaned, disbelief in his tones.

Alex looked around.

"Where's Chatot?" he asked.

"He passed through here… though he paused when he saw us like this. He took the opportunity to call our team a whole lot of choice words…" Skuntank said, and his ground his teeth as he continued "What he said about us… grrr… I'm _still_ seein' red… I swear, I'm getting' out of here even if I have to _crawl_. If only to get my payback on that blasted **Chatot!**"

Then Skuntank calmed and he looked pensive, perhaps even puzzled…

"After getting trounced like this… we were about ready to just give up… it seems like he was trying to save us in his own… unique way."

"Well, I don't think he'd just leave you like this. No matter what you'd done."

Skuntank glanced at them again.

"You two… went through some downright hard times thanks to us… and yet you're _still_ going to care about our well-being?" he said. He sounded almost… touched.

"It's not like I've forgotten what you've done…" Eve admitted "But when I see you down and out like this… I can't just ignore it."

Skuntank was silent for several moments.

Then a smile cracked across his face and he chuckled softly as he rested his head on the ground. Then one of his front legs flopped away from his chest and the Relic Fragment bounced out of his paw, onto the ground.

"Oops…" he said nonchalantly "How unlike me… I dropped the Relic Fragment and now that eevee is gonna take it back…"

Alex could tell it was a lame and very obvious act, but he couldn't help smiling at Skuntank's rare show of subdued gratitude.

"Skuntank…" Eve murmured, then she smiled as she understood as well "Thanks…"

"What are you thanking me for?" Skuntank said, still smiling "I just dropped it, that's all. You're free to take it… or not. We'll be fine. It's Chatot you should be worried about."

Eve was jolted back to the urgent matter at-hand.

"Right, where'd he go?" she said, picking the Relic Fragment up.

"He should be just ahead. He was chasing after those pokemon who ambushed us."

"Alright. Hang in there and get out safely Team Skull." Eve said.

"I'll ask you not to patronize Team Skull." Skuntank chuckled "When we meet again, we'll be back to messing with you."

Alex and his partner nodded and rushed ahead.

o0o

They came across Chatot again soon and the parrot was looking around the room, alert.

He quickly noticed them.

"Be careful!" he snapped tensely "I saw their retreating figures vanish in here. They're here somewhere…"

Alex and Eve slowly approached Chatot, cautiously looking around the room. They were soon in front of Chatot.

"…I don't see anyone here, Chatot." Alex finally said. He certainly didn't see anyone hiding among the rocks on the sides of the room.

Chatot looked worried though… then his eyes widened as he remembered something. He looked straight up.

"Alex! Eve! They're above us! Look out!"

Team Long Ears glanced up just in time to see three pokemon drop from the ceiling and land in front of them with a loud crash!

"I'm Kabutops!" the center one yelled. He stood on two legs, had an arrow-shaped head and large scythes on his arms rather than hands.

"And the Omastar Brothers!" the two added in unison from either side of him. They looked similar to omanyte but bigger with spiked shells and large, beak-like mouths.

"Weaklings need to be taught a lesson! **Take this!**" Kabutops yelled and all three lunged at Alex and Eve, who were too stunned to react in time.

"_No!_"

Alex and Eve screamed as the attack came at them. The next moment, several feathers flew into the air and scattered across Alex and Eve.

Chatot was in front of them. He had absorbed all three attacks, shielding Team Long Ears from the assault. The parrot was a bloody mess. Eve was suitably shocked.

"Ooh…" Kabutops said, grinning "That guy shielded them with his body… that ain't too smart."

Then one of the Omaster bros. to the side blinked.

"Hey, I recognize this guy! He did the same thing last time we met!" Kabutops laughed in response to this.

"_Must_ be an idiot if he didn't learn his lesson the first time."

"I won't… let you lay a claw on them…" Chatot breathed, defiance in his tones "They're our prized recruits…" Then Chatot flopped onto the ground, unconscious.

"That's one down." Kabutops chuckled "Now it's your turn." He said, getting ready to fight them.

Alex's shock was replaced by a blazing rage.

"No… it's _your _turn for pain." Alex growled viciously. Electricity crackled around him and Eve stepped away, intimidated by her own partner's anger.

"Eve… get down…" Alex growled.

What followed, could only be described as an _explosion_ of electricity as Alex violently discharged electricity into everything around him. It was only because Eve quickly followed his command that she didn't get fried with Kabutops and his partners.

All three water/rock-types screamed as electricity thoroughly fried them.

They were still standing when it was over but they now looked at Alex with clear terror. They whimpered and stepped back hesitantly, their previous bravado gone.  
>"Want more?" Alex snarled, still crackling with electrical sparks. The three promptly turned and ran away.<p>

Alex huffed out a breath after they disappeared from view… he felt drained. He hadn't discharged like that before and his body wasn't used to that sort of strain.

Eve looked him over and then, deciding he would be okay, immediately went up to Chatot.

The parrot woke up as Eve focused her concern on him and he tried to work himself to his feet.

Then Wigglytuff's voice echoed through the room.

"Chatot!"

The guildmaster came running up, tears of equal concern in his eyes.

"Chatot! Are you okay?" he said, almost desperately. Alex had only seen him nearly so worked up when he'd been deprived of Perfect Apples.

"I'm fine…" Chatot said, laughing weakly "I'm hale and hearty…as you can see."

Grovyle came up a moment later, having evidently been following Wigglytuff.

The rest of guild came into the room about a minute later. They were all shocked to see Grovyle initially but even more so when they saw Chatot's condition.

Wigglytuff wouldn't be distracted from Chatot though.

"Chatot… you probably don't remember but last time we were here… you shielded me from the attack of those three pokemon."

Chatot managed to look at his leader.

"I did?" he grunted.

"Yes… I would've been knocked out if it weren't for you… You… you're my irreplaceable partner Chatot. I don't want to lose you…" the guildmaster said, clearly trying not to sob.

"I feel honored to hear those words… from you guildmaster…" Chatot said, clearly in pain "I'm such… a happy… pokemon…" he then passed out, flopping to the ground again. The guild apprentices started forward but Grovyle held out an arm, holding them back.

"Hold it!"

Grovyle quickly stepped up to Chatot and studied the bird's wounds.

"Yes… he can be saved but you need to get him back to the guild, quickly!" he finally said as he looked up, his tone urgent.

"Well then, let's hurry back to the guild!" Eve said.

"No…" Wigglytuff said calmly, his expression one that Alex had never seen "You three: Grovyle, Alex, and Eve… you need to keep going ahead. We'll take Chatot back to the guild. You're the only ones who can go to the Hidden Land."

Alex and his partner opened their mouths to argue but Grovyle cut them off.

"He's right. We need to keep going. We don't have time to go back to the guild now."

"But… but…" Eve stammered.

"Go… you're the only ones. If you don't… Chatot's sacrifice will be wasted." Wigglytuff said, almost serenely.

Grovyle moved to head deeper into the cave and glanced back at them. Alex and Eve, hesitantly moved to follow and looked back at the guild members one last time.

Alex deeply hoped it wouldn't be the last time he saw them…

Then they headed into the back of the cave.


	34. Arriving at the Hidden Land

_**After the long, previous chapter, here's another relatively short one.**_

_**It's not much but here you go.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 33: Arriving at the Hidden Land

"So, how'd you find us, Grovyle?" Eve asked as they went the short distance towards the back of the cave.

"Wigglytuff came and found me. I was coming to find you anyways so it worked for me."

"You found all the time gears then?" Alex deduced.

"Yeah… saw what you did back there by the way, we arrived just in time to see what happened to Chatot… remind me never to get on your bad side, Alex." Grovyle said, shaking his head in disbelief. Alex blushed a bit and pushed his ear back up as it tried to flop over his eye.

They came to a part of the cave where there was an opening into the cave and what was evidently sea water was ebbing up and down along the wall on the left. Light was streaming in from that direction and when Eve went up the opening, she looked out to see an orange sky outside.

"Wow, time's really flown by while we were in there."

Alex's attention though was drawn by the right-side wall that was directly opposite of the opening leading outside to the ocean. There was a large, circular and very intricate pattern on the wall that looked like a large extension of the pattern on the Relic Fragment. The pattern looked like an array or some sort of magic circle, with a thick circle right in the center.

"Hey Grovyle, Eve, come take a look at this." He called behind him. They came up and Eve, of course, also recognized it.

"It looks just like the one on my relic fragment." She commented and pulled out the Relic Fragment to compare them. She yelped and dropped it when the Fragment suddenly glowed and started pulsing with a soft blue light. A few seconds later, the entire pattern on the wall also started to pulse as well with the same light in sync with the Fragment.

"Are they responding to each other? –Ack!" she yelped again when the wall pattern suddenly glowed with a blinding light and they all looked away. A single beam of light, like a laser, fired from the center of the wall pattern and went shooting out across the water outside. Both patterns ceased glowing.

"What was that all about?" Alex said as Eve put the Fragment away.

"Hey, there's something coming!" Eve said pointing outside.

Sure enough, a dark shape was appearing as if conjured by the ray of light.

It only took a few moments before the figure arrived and quietly swam into the cave through the opening. The pokemon was primarily blue in color and had a grey shell on its back, lending it some of the appearance of a turtle. It also had a long neck that showed a white throat and underbelly (though it couldn't be seen as it was under the water) and a smooth head with calm, gentle eyes. Just looking at this pokemon, they could tell he or she was not an enemy.

"Greetings," she said, "I am Lapras. I will take you to the Hidden Land."

Alex and his partner blinked, a little stunned. Alex couldn't help saying "Really?"

"That ray of light was the sign that you are chosen to go to the Hidden Land. I've been waiting for you."

They approached Lapras and she turned to show her back to them… her shell had looked small but now Alex wasn't so sure about its size. Lapras smiled in an understanding way.

"Don't worry. I can carry all of you and more. Get on board and we'll head for the Hidden Land." She said gently. They carefully got on her back, Grovyle sitting up near the base of her neck while Alex and Eve settled down behind him on the shell. Once they were settled in, Lapras seemed to drift outside and across the ocean.

The ride was so gentle that Alex could hardly believe they were actually moving. Lapras was unbelievably stable, even when the ocean became turbulent and they were never in any danger of falling off or getting knocked off.

o0o

The ride turned out to be a long one and night fell as Lapras swam along. A little bored, Eve spoke to Lapras.

"So you knew we were coming?" she said. Lapras glanced back as she responded.

"Yes. Wigglytuff told me about you."

This stunned the team a little and Grovyle also became interested in the conversation.

"You know Wigglytuff?"

"Some years back, Wigglytuff came exploring Brine Cave with Chatot as you might know." Lapras explained "I witnessed everything that happened and I hadn't planned on showing myself to either of them. But when Chatot was hurt… well, I felt I had to help. Wigglytuff clearly was panicking and wasn't sure what to do in his situation. He was afraid he was going to lose Chatot there, unable to help him alone as he was. I… had to help." Lapras said, not sounding at all like she was ashamed of her actions.

Alex smiled. It was heart-warming to hear. He remembered Wigglytuff's words back at Brine Cave... he could see some similarities in the relationships they all had. Alex cared about Eve as much as the guildmaster clearly cared for Chatot. He had little doubt, after all they'd been through, that Eve felt the same way about him.

"I helped them get back to safety and I made a deal with Wigglytuff. I explained to them that I couldn't be sure of the nature of their team… I couldn't be sure if they were just honest explorers or pokemon set upon riches and greed. So I asked Wigglytuff to never tell anyone about the pattern in the back of Brine Cave, to keep it secret. He agreed to it quite readily. I think he was happy to honor it." Lapras explained.

Alex and his partner were completely wrapped up in the story.

"Wigglytuff came to meet me last night. He told me about the two of you then and about Grovyle. He said that he wouldn't be able to keep that promise anymore. I understood though and I know what you are going to the Hidden Land to do."

"Where is the Hidden Land exactly anyways?" Alex asked.

"It's slightly hard to explain…" Lapras said hesitantly "but Dialga was concerned about wicked entities invading the Hidden Land so he hid it in the space between halves of a second."

All three were astonished at this news.

"No wonder no one's ever found it before…" Grovyle murmured "There's no way to get to some place like _that._"

"No… that's not true." Lapras said gently "Dialga left one way there… the key-stone you call the Relic Fragment. It is the one way to the Hidden Land."

It was a lot to take in but Alex had listened through it all and as Lapras finished, he couldn't stifle a tired yawn from how late it was. Noticing this, Lapras laughed softly and gently.

"Go ahead and rest. You will need your sleep for what lies ahead."

Alex and Eve went ahead and laid down across the shell, dropping off to sleep almost immediately. Grovyle eventually dozed off as well.

o0o

They woke up to daylight.

"It must have been a long night…" Eve said, yawning as she got up "Are you okay Lapras?" she asked.

Lapras smiled, amused.

"I am fine, Eve. I can swim for very long periods of time without rest. Besides, we are almost there now."

All three looked past Lapras's neck in front of them. There didn't appear to be an island.

"You see where the water appears to be rippling?" Lapras asked.

Alex looked down at the water ahead of them and noticed that it and the air over the water seemed to be bending in various directions.

"The water… it's distorted…"

"That's the pathway to the Hidden Land." Lapras said, continuing towards it "Here we go…"

Lapras stopped moving herself forward and she started to move forward of her own accord. Her pace through the water sped up. Then Alex and his partner couldn't withhold a gasp when she slowly but definitely lifted out of the water entirely, rushing just over it.

"Whoa! Lapras is flying!" Eve exclaimed. Grovyle looked around though and shook his head.

"No, this isn't flying. We're crossing a sea of time!" he said.

They held on tight to the shell they were on, though they were no danger being blown off.

After several moments of "flying", there was a flash before them and they were confronted with an awe-inspiring sight:

Before them lay a large landmass, floating in the air. It was covered in forest and looked wild. In the sky over it, was a series of hovering rocks with a path that ended in mid-air. At the top of those rocks, was what was clearly a dark blue tower with clouds swirling over the top of the tower. The clouds over the tower were a sinister red.

"Is that-?" Eve started, looking over all the land before them.

"Yes… this is the Hidden Land." Lapras said.

"That must be Temporal Tower." Alex said, pointing at the only tower they could see.

Eve frowned…

"How are we supposed to get to it though? You can't take us there, can you Lapras?"

"No, I'm afraid I can only get you to the edge of the Hidden Land. To get to Temporal Tower, you will have to find the Rainbow Stoneship."

They all looked a bit confused at this.

"The Rainbow Stoneship is somewhere in the Hidden Land. I'm sure you can find it." Lapras said confidently as she approached a small segment of clear ground that stuck out from the rest. She came to a halt at the edge and the three carefully disembarked, making sure to not fall off.

"I will remain here for when you wish to return." Lapras said, giving them an encouraging nod.

They all returned the nod, expressing their gratitude to Lapras for her services and looked at each other.

"We're here. We don't have that far to go now." Alex said, and he could feel his heart speeding up.

"Yes…" Grovyle agreed "We can't give up now. Let's save time." He said calmly.

"Right." Eve nodded and they turned and set off as a group into the Hidden Land.


	35. Exploring the Hidden Land

_**Another long chapter with a good deal of events. I think this should be quite interesting.**_

_**Enjoy and I hope it's as good as I think it is.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 34: Exploring the Hidden Land

The Hidden Land was one of the hardest locations that Team Long Ears had explored. Dragon-type pokemon were not uncommon. They frequently came across dragonite (two-legged, horned pokemon that looked very much like a classic dragon) and garchomp (which looked like a cross between a shark and a dragon). They also came across abomasnow, which were massive tree-like pokemon covered in ice; the presence of these were announced by the air suddenly being filled with hail, which hurt as it came down on their heads.

Alex, Eve, and Grovyle all found themselves working together like they never had before. When a dragonite came, Alex electrocuted it as it was frequently air-borne, Eve supported his attacks and those of Grovyle as well, who darted forward and slammed it. When garchomp appeared, Alex and Grovyle would switch roles: Grovyle would take the front, lashing the shark/dragon with his leaf blades and Alex would make swift strikes from behind him.

"Nice teamwork everyone." Eve said after they took down yet another garchomp.

"This could wear me down fast though…" Alex breathed.

"Don't forget we're here too, Alex." Grovyle said "You're not alone."

Alex just smiled appreciatively at Grovyle and they proceeded.

Things got complicated at one point when they found manectric also dwelling in the Hidden Land. Manectric were the evolved counter-parts to electrikes, and Alex still remembered the "lightning-rod" frustration from those. Manectric were no different and the team found themselves in a tricky situation when they came across both a manectric and a dragonite alongside it.

Eve got directly involved this time. She charged at the manectric, and bit it. Grovyle also focused his attack on it. The pokemon was resilient though and stayed standing. Alex meanwhile, tried to distract the dragonite from his companions. Unable to use electricity (lest it get drawn away by the manectric), he slammed the dragonite with his tail. The dragonite, thankfully, focused on him, rather than Grovyle and came at Alex, wings wide. Alex withstood the attack and Eve also stood up to the manectric when it returned her biting attack with an electric bite of its own.

Grovyle slammed it with one fist and as it went down, Eve assisted Alex with the dragonite.

It finally went down as Alex electrocuted it and, relieved to be done with that tricky situation, they continued on their way through the Hidden Land.

Alex had packed a Stamina band again and was grateful to have it as they explored. They were spending copious amounts of time exploring, trying to find the way up; they had decided to just start their exploration with going up, trying to get closer to Temporal Tower. The Hidden Land was a bit of a labyrinth and the journey through it was grueling at points; it didn't help when an abomasnow was present in the area as it always meant hail coming down on them and wearing them down further.

There was also one point where they came to one edge of the Hidden Land and a local resident of the floating island picked a fight with them there. They were backed up on the edge of the deep drop, with yet another garchomp wanting to take a bite out of them.

It rushed at them, faster than something so large seemed capable of, and lashed out at Grovyle with its large claws. Grovyle evaded the brunt of the strike and counter-attacked. Alex, having found earlier that these particular dragons seemed immune to electricity, ran up the garchomps back and slapped it over the head with his tail.

_I swear, it's become my signature move second to frying my opponents…_ Alex couldn't help thinking. Then he had to jump down to avoid the garchomp's claws while Eve and Grovyle attacked it directly from the front.

In a last-ditch attempt, it blindly charged them and Grovyle didn't react fast enough to completely avoid it. The garchomp went right over the edge of the Hidden Land, dragging Grovyle with it!

"Grovyle!" both Alex and Eve yelled and ran up to see their companion hanging on to the rocks. Their opponent wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"I've been in worse situations…" Grovyle grunted as he attempted to start climbing.

They both quickly reached down and helped Grovyle back up and soon, he was back on solid ground again.

"You scared both of us there, Grovyle…" Alex panted, he had exhausted himself, not from lifting Grovyle but from worry that Grovyle had fallen off completely back there.

Grovyle just chuckled.

"I'm tougher than that." He said with a hint of smugness. Alex playfully punched him on the arm.

"Don't do that to us again."

His old friend just smirked and proceeded forward, the team following him.

o0o

Day and night didn't appear to exist here as they had been traveling for a while and they couldn't see the sun anywhere around the Hidden Land, yet there was daylight over everything. It was strange but Alex was just grateful that it wasn't dark.

They finally arrived somewhere they could rest and took the opportunity gratefully.

"How much further do you think we have to go?" Eve asked them as they sat down.

"The Rainbow Stoneship could be anywhere around here…" Grovyle said, shrugging "What I'm more concerned about is how long we have… we really don't have time to rest all that long…" he said looking at Temporal Tower overhead. The tower was always visible on the island, no matter where they were.

Alex was aware that as long as it was firmly standing on its rock over them, they still had time but he also knew Grovyle was right. They had no way of knowing how long it would stay that way, it could possibly crumble any minute now and then their mission was done for.

"Let's go…" he finally said, standing. He was still a little tired and (though they didn't show it) so were his two companions, but they nodded in agreement and stood as well.

They were in an elevated portion of the Hidden Land now. As they went along a cliff, they could see the areas they had passed through far below.

Their opponents didn't change all that much from what they had encountered in the lower lands, though abomasnow seemed more frequent in these areas. Despite the pressing hail though, the trio pushed on.

o0o

They finally came across a stone entryway and went inside.

They were in a hallway that was well lit with light coming in from cracks in the ceiling overhead.

"Wow…" Eve was gazing at the walls, which depicted various figures "What are these?"

One of the first figures they saw on the walls was a vivid pink in color and had what looked like a long tail. It looked vaguely like a cat.

"I'm not sure… but I think these are legends that shaped the world… and who we are…" Grovyle said, looking around the quiet hallway.

As they proceeded, they saw other figures. Something that was definitely Groudon was depicted facing another pokemon that was just as large and resembled a blue whale.

One of the last murals was of something that looked like Dialga, facing to the side, its back to another figure that Alex couldn't identify.

"What is that…?" Alex murmured looking at the figure, which was primarily white and pink and had a smoother figure than Dialga. Grovyle shook his head though when Alex looked at him for an answer.

"I'm afraid I only know about Dialga. I imagine that other pokemon is related to Dialga in some way but I really do not know."

"Hey, there's an opening up ahead!" Eve called from ahead of them "C'mon!"

They followed Eve out another entryway and found themselves at what appeared to be the base of small pyramid, a long stairway going up to the top directly in front of them.

They worked their way up the steps and looked around at the top.

Eve's attention was drawn to the ground in the center of the peak. There was a stone circle in the center of the pyramid with a pattern that was the same as the one back at Brine Cave and on the Relic Fragment. However, in the center of the pattern was a small hole, like someone had chipped out a chunk of the stone.

"What do you suppose the pattern is here for?" she asked.

Alex though, noticed to the left, there was tablet standing like a tombstone on the edge of the pyramid's peak. He approached the tablet and looked at it. Etched into the stone were various figures that looked bizarre but were certainly not footprint runes.

Grovyle noticed his investigation and came to take a look as well. His eyes brightened when he saw the figures etched in the tablet.

"Those are Unown runes." He said "Move over Alex, I can read this. I've studied them extensively before. I had to to find how to fix time."

Alex stepped aside and Grovyle knelt down in front of the tablet, scanning it with his eyes.

It took a few minutes, during which Alex and Eve waited, somewhat impatiently for him to finish translating.

"Well, what does it say?" Eve said as he lowered his hand from the tablet.

Grovyle smiled in response.

"I've got it." He said, turning to look at them and then pointed at the pattern in the middle of the pyramid "This right here; this is the Rainbow Stoneship."

Both were stunned.

"Really?" Eve said, now excited "How do we get it moving?"

"Your Relic Fragment is the key. You just stick it in that hole in the center and that should activate it." Grovyle said, pointing at the hole.

"Alright," Eve nodded and walked up to the hole "I'll put it right in there then."

She hadn't even pulled it out yet though when a very familiar voice called all of them.

"_That_ will do!"

Quite suddenly, two sableye came running up each set of stairs around them (there were three stairways) and they were surrounded. Dusknoir came hovering up the stairway to the right of the tablet, opposite the stairway Alex and his companions had come up.

"Dusknoir?" Grovyle said, clearly stunned "How'd you get here?"

"It's quite simple really: I had Master Dialga warp us here directly. I knew you'd have to come here to get to Temporal Tower so I just waited here to trap you." Dusknoir chuckled softly "So much easier than chasing you all down all over again."

He then snapped his fingers and the Sableye all closed in until the three were huddled, back-to-back to one another.

"Come along." Dusknoir said and hovered back down the stairs. They were shoved along down the stairs until they arrived at a small clearing at the base of the stairs. There was a dimensional hole waiting for them there.

"Into the hole with them." Dusknoir commanded.

"Ready, you two?" Grovyle said very softly.

"Yeah." Both of them responded quietly. Then, as one, they all lashed out at the sableye and scattered Dusknoir's underlings in all directions, knocking them clear back. They were still surrounded though.

Dusknoir sighed over this inconvenience.

"So, you've still got some fight left then?" he said, taking a position between them and the dimensional hole.

"We're not giving up that easily!" Grovyle declared.

"Hmph…" Dusknoir clasped his fist in one hand, cracking the knuckles and repeated with the other hand "Very well. Let's see what little resistance you can put up."

Alex felt nervous facing their former hero but he glanced at his two partners and they both nodded in encouragement.

"Get them!" Dusknoir ordered and the sableye all charged in to attack!

As the sableye came close, Alex violently unleashed a blast of electricity in all directions. Three sableye were shocked and skipped back, jittering from the electricity snapping at them.  
>Grovyle slashed another, eliminating the ghost-type in a hurry. Eve snapped at another, who shied away from the attack but didn't back off. The last cautiously approached Alex, wary of his electricity.<p>

Dusknoir meanwhile, was advancing on Alex. As soon as he was in range, he came at the pikachu, swinging.

Alex jumped over the fist and landed on Dusknoir's arm. From there, he clung to the ghost's arm and fed him electricity directly through his arm.

Dusknoir endured the electricity to reach over with his other hand and seize Alex. He then slammed the former human into the ground.

Grovyle reacted to this in outrage. He lunged at Dusknoir with his leaf blades. Dusknoir blocked the attack with one arm and countered with a punch. A sudden drop in temperature accompanied the fist and Grovyle was knocked down, getting covered in ice-crystals. The grass-type yelled out from pain.

Dusknoir grinned maliciously.

"Not so high and mighty against Ice Punch, are you Grovyle?" he laughed.

Alex stood up and unleashed another violent blast of electricity, frying the sableye behind him and taking Dusknoir in front of him off-guard.

The ghost then found himself unable to effectively move as the electricity continued to arc around him.

"Not so high and mighty when paralyzed, are you Dusknoir?" Alex said, taunting him.

"Why you-!" Dusknoir started but then Eve, who had just finished dealing with the last sableye, jumped at him and bit him, hard!

Dusknoir roared with both pain and fury and seemed to stagger backwards (it's hard to say he exactly "staggered" since he was floating). Grovyle got up, shaking off the ice and lunged at Dusknoir, who backed up more, getting overwhelmed.

"You're no longer the hero we thought you were, Dusknoir." Alex said, advancing on Dusknoir, Eve and Grovyle following him.

"And now we're stronger than you'll ever be." Alex continued, stepping up to his opponent, who was still trying to shake off his paralysis.

"Go back and tell Primal Dialga to _get lost!_" Alex yelled, jumping at Dusknoir's head and flipping. Though typing cut the move's power, the tail-slam still knocked Dusknoir's head straight into the ground at his feet!

"We're going to save the planet from paralysis." Alex declared.

Grovyle and Eve stepped up, looking at him with some admiration. However, their silent celebrations were cut short by Dusknoir, whose arms were shaking and he was gripping the dirt…

"I…I… I…" he growled, then suddenly jumped up "**I refuse to lose!**" he bellowed defiantly and lashed out at all of them with a heavy roundhouse punch. All three were knocked back, they managed to stay on their feet though.

"You!" Dusknoir roared, furious "You're not saving anyone!"

Then to their surprise, the golden face-like design on Dusknoir's belly opened up in what was unmistakably a dark, black mouth!

"You're finished!" Dusknoir yelled angrily and a black ball of energy started to gather at the mouth.

"What's it gonna take to get Dusknoir to go down?" Alex said incredulously.

"Watch it… he's readying some sort of attack with that second mouth or whatever that is." Grovyle said tensely, staring at the black ball gathering.

Alex could tell they were in trouble here. They couldn't evade the attack due to the sableye still standing to the sides, and if such a large attack hit them, they'd be down for sure.

Then an idea came to him. Like some of his other ideas (the quicksand one came to mind), it sounded insane…

_But we don't have any other clear options now and no time. It's like what Grovyle said back in the past. Time to act… no time to be afraid of the consequences._

"Eve, Grovyle! When he launches that attack, we need to all strike at it! It might not work but we need to try and knock it back at Dusknoir!"

Eve stared, slightly panic-stricken. Dusknoir was too furious to hear what they were saying.

"What? Are you serious?" she yelled.

Grovyle understood though.

"We don't have time to argue about it. We'll just have to do it and hope it works!"

Dusknoir roared and fired the black ball at them!

They all turned to face the incoming attack…

At the last possible moment, Alex yelled "NOW!"

They all slammed the black ball at once and the blow jolted it. Miraculously, the ball was launched back the way it had come!

Dusknoir was too surprised to react before the ball slammed itself back into the mouth it had come from and there was a blinding flash as he howled in pain.

When the light vanished, Dusknoir was hovering in place, his eye flickering, a small amount of smoke oozing from the mouth on his stomach.

He groaned, rising into the air, shaking… then collapsed on the ground with a heavy thud.

All six sableye immediately looked uneasy.

"Lord Dusknoir…" one murmured, clearly concerned.

"Lord Dusknoir has fallen…" they all looked at one another, then at the trio, who all just stared back at them.

They all screeched in terror and fled into the dimensional hole.

Grovyle walked up to Dusknoir, who seemed to still be mildly conscious.

"You just can't attract reliable servants, can you?" Grovyle said smugly. Dusknoir could only groan in response.

"I'll go get the Rainbow Stoneship running." Eve said and ran off up the pyramid steps.

Dusknoir shifted on the ground and Grovyle immediately was on-guard.

"Don't move!"

Dusknoir had managed to lift himself enough to get his head off the ground so he was looking up at both Alex and Grovyle.

"Is this… really what you want Grovyle?" he rasped, weak from taking his own attack "To change the future?"

They didn't bother responding. They knew they were changing the future.

"You do realize what will happen when you change the future, don't you?" Dusknoir said, and he sounded desperate, almost as if he were pleading.

"When you change the future, everything from the future will fade! Not just me! Both of you! Alex as well!"

Alex's eyes widen and he immediately suspected a lie. An attempt to shake their resolve. However, there was an emotion in Dusknoir's eye besides desperation… Alex couldn't be certain but it looked like fear...

_Is he serious? Is he telling the… the truth?_

Alex looked at Grovyle and the expression on Grovyle's face said everything.

Grovyle looked sad… as if he were being forced to do something he'd rather not.

"Yes, Alex…" Grovyle said calmly, knowing that Alex was looking to him for answers "It's true. When we change the future, both of us will vanish."


	36. Sacrifice

_**Even I'm getting excited at this point, which is why I've come out with this chapter a day sooner than might've been expected.**_

_**It's not much but I'll probably be coming out with the next few chapters over just the next couple of days.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 35: Sacrifice

Grovyle was being overcome with rather immense guilt at telling Alex this now.

He'd been meaning to tell him this for some time now… but he'd never had the heart to do it. He felt he had failed to live up to his old friend's words, which he had been trying to live by whenever the situation called for it.

And now, he was paying the price in guilt for not having the courage to say this sooner. He'd been afraid of how Alex would react.

"We _will_ disappear…" Grovyle confirmed "But it doesn't matter… I have nothing to lose and Celebi also knows this. She has the same resolve."

Alex seemed to be thinking about the fact that he would vanish from history after saving time from stopping.

"You don't remember this… but you had the same resolve in the past, Alex." Grovyle said, he couldn't bring himself to look Alex in the eyes…

"You told me then that you had no real family left where you came from… and that you hadn't even been sure where you'd be going. To be honest… I felt a little sorry for you then. It sounded as if your life was going to waste. The only thing I could do was be a friend to you and give you a goal to achieve. You didn't care if you vanished then…"

"And I understand now what has to be done…" Alex cut in, looking at Grovyle firmly. "I'll make sure it's done, even if I vanish from time."

Grovyle blinked, a little stunned (and impressed) that Alex was still determined to do this. However, Grovyle would not allow himself the cowardice to forego telling Alex about the largest concern.

"Alex… it's good to hear that you're as determined now as you were then… but things have changed since that time. You no longer have nothing to lose."

Alex looked a little confused for perhaps one second, then his eyes widened and he glanced back at the pyramid… at his partner, nearly at the top.

"Eve…" he murmured as he also realized the problem.

"Alex… I've seen how much you two get along…" Grovyle said hesitantly, he couldn't hide the concern in his voice "And Eve has a strong spirit… I've witnessed that myself… but she deeply cares about you… if you disappear… she's going to be left alone…"

o0o

Alex felt like a lead weight had dropped somewhere in him and he was suddenly weighed down inside. For the first time in a long time… he was experiencing doubts about his mission. He wanted to prevent the planet's paralysis… but doing so would mean leaving Eve behind. This left him conflicted and he wasn't so certain of his resolve.

Then Eve apparently reached the top and had placed the fragment in the Stoneship because the top of the pyramid suddenly started radiating an intense, blue light.

Grovyle stepped up.

"Eve's done it… that must be the Rainbow Stoneship activating."

Unfortunately, Grovyle's movement put him in a poor position to handle what happened next.

"No!" Dusknoir growled.

Alex and Grovyle both turned in alarm to face Dusknoir, who suddenly pushed himself up off the ground with an immense amount of effort. He swung a fist at Alex, who was completely taken off-guard. The blow hit him in the face and knocked him sprawling away.

"I won't allow it!" Dusknoir roared, seemingly driven mad by desperation. He made to hurl another attack at Alex, attempting to pound him but Grovyle, remembering his partner of the past, decided it was time to repay that debt.

He jumped into the path of the attack. It knocked him straight to the ground.

"I won't allow you to change the future! Never!" Dusknoir yelled furiously. The ghost was breathing hard though and it was clear his actions were causing him pain due to his injuries.

Grovyle worked himself to his feet, his entire body sore, parts of him screaming with pain.

"We _don't_ have the _time_ to be _dealing_ with you, Dusknoir…" Grovyle growled, annoyed with his opponent's tenacity. Then, to Alex's surprise, rather than trying to take Dusknoir back down, Grovyle tackled him, wrapping his arms around him in a bear-hug and pinning the ghost's arms to his sides.

Grovyle made sure his grip was tight and shoved, driving both of them towards the dimensional hole still waiting behind Dusknoir. Dusknoir, to his credit, struggled and resisted, but he hadn't the strength at that time to break free and all he did was slow Grovyle slightly.

"Dusknoir…" Grovyle grunted "We're going back! Back to the future!"

"What?" Both Dusknoir and Alex exclaimed in surprise.

"Grovyle, no!" Alex immediately yelled afterwards.

Grovyle glanced over his shoulder at Alex.

"Sorry Alex, but it looks like this is where I'm leaving you." He quickly reached into his personal item bag and, grabbing the time gears there, threw them out behind him where they scattered across the ground. He then quickly reestablished his grip on Dusknoir, keeping him from escaping.

Eve arrived, running down the steps and was shocked to see the turn of events.

"Grovyle- What? What's going on?" she yelped.

"Eve, you and Alex have to go on without me here." Grovyle said. Eve shook her head, wide-eyed with disbelief.

"No… I can't…"

"You have to. I know you can!" Grovyle grunted as he kept the still struggling Dusknoir bound. He glanced back at them.

"You two are the greatest of combinations. You work together like no one else! I _know_ the two of you can do it!"

He then looked directly at Alex… and the former human could see the pain Grovyle felt. It wasn't physical pain… it was deeper than that... He knew what they were going to experience.

"Alex… I know the separation hurts… but you _have_ to be strong. For both of you! Don't _ever_ lose your resolve!"

Alex wanted to stop Grovyle from going into the hole with Dusknoir… But in his mind… he understood what Grovyle wanted of him.

"Alright Dusknoir." Grovyle said roughly, turning his attention back to his struggling enemy "Enough waiting." He dug his feet into the ground and pushed for all he was worth!

"No!" Dusknoir yelled, drawing it out even as he and Grovyle vanished into the hole. The dimensional hole then flickered and disappeared, closing them off.

Alex felt so weighed down that he was frozen in place. His mind was thinking over everything he'd just gone through and what he'd been told.

Eve was ready to cry, sad to have seen Grovyle go. After a minute though, she blinked away the tears forming in her eyes.

"I'll get the time gears…"

Alex meanwhile was lost in his own thoughts.

_Saving the future means I vanish from history. I will no longer exist._

He overheard Eve talking to herself as she collected the time gears off the ground.

"Just wait Grovyle… we'll change things in the future… give you a happy future to live in."

_But it's not one he'll be living in… I really don't want to do this to Eve…_

"Hey, Alex…" Eve said, her tone gentle. Alex looked up at her, feeling lost.

"What Grovyle said… the separation hurts… I understand what he meant. It had to be hard for him to do that for us. He probably won't see you again. We have to do this… for him." Eve said, trying to encourage Alex.

Alex reflected on the final words…

_He wasn't talking about him and myself… he was talking about the two of us: Eve and me…_

Then he also remembered the very last words:

_Don't ever lose your resolve._

Alex gripped the words in his mind and as he focused on them, his determination hardened. With it, his resolve returned.

_Right… I have to do this… for everyone… especially Eve._

He looked up at Eve, and nodded.

"Alright."

Eve smiled.

"Let's do this! Let's save the future. Do it for Grovyle, and do it for everyone here in the present!"

They both nodded, their resolves firm and unbreakable.

They headed up the pyramid and arrived at the top.

The Stoneship at the top had blue light flooding out from under it.

"Looks like it's about to take off!" Eve said hurriedly "Quick, get on!"

They quickly stepped aboard and then the stone shook and Eve yelped as she attempted to keep her balance. The stone then stopped shaking and they lifted off into the air, leaving the pyramid behind.

They were flying through the air of the Hidden Land, on a circular slab of stone, trailing a shimmering a ribbon of rainbow light.

Ahead of them, was Temporal Tower, standing like a sentinel. Waiting as they drew closer and closer.

The Stoneship came to a halt at the edge of the path that ended in mid-air, basically treating it like a boat-port.

They stepped off and headed up the path.

Alex's thoughts roiled in his mind as they traveled towards the tower.

_I really should tell Eve what will happen… But I don't want to break her resolve… she'll be so unhappy to hear that I'll be disappearing…_

After a few minutes of thinking, he finally got up some nerve to speak but he no sooner opened his mouth when Eve cut across him before he could speak.

"C'mon Alex, we're almost to the entrance! Let's hurry!"

Despite their situation, Eve was determined and smiling. Alex didn't want to see that shattered… and so he lost the nerve to mention what would happen after changing the future.

_Don't ever lose your resolve._

Alex felt he already had failed Grovyle there but he decided to not let his resolve to save time, the present, and the future waver. He nodded and ran after Eve.

Their final adventure awaited.


	37. Dialga

_**There's no denying it: this is the climax. I realize that normally, the Pikachu main character in the game doesn't know Volt Tackle, but I put it into the final fight since I thought it would fit. Besides, there's been plenty of advice to stray from the game's constraints so...**_

_**Thank you for the reviews on this chapter. Tanon's in particular was merciless and for that: I particularly thank him.**_

_**I hope this chapter is grand.**_

PDM 2: A Novelization

Chapter 36: Dialga

Temporal Tower was imposing from a distance. Up at the base, at the very entrance of the structure, Alex felt a little overwhelmed by the utter majesty of the tower.

However, this intense presence was deteriorating with the tower's collapse.

The tower was angular in design and up-close, Alex could see thick, wire-like material interlaced through the stone. The material was glowing, at present rapidly blinking between red and blue. It reminded him somewhat of the red… things that he had seen on Primal Dialga.

He and Eve might've spent several more minutes staring in wondrous awe at the tower but their amazement was cut short by a low rumble and little bits of debris falling from the walls of the tower.

"Uh-oh…" Eve mumbled "Grovyle said that the time stop's acceleration was due to the tower collapsing." She looked uneasily at Alex "Temporal Tower could be collapsing as we speak."

"No time to lose then." Alex responded and, spotting a Kangaskhan Rock standing to the side of the entrance, he quickly used it to repack their supplies before hurrying inside.

o0o

The inside of the tower had a variety of pokemon wandering its halls. One of the more annoying residents of Temporal Tower were called bronzor, which looked like large, metal coins. The living, metallic coins were tough and actively barred Alex and his partner's movement. Alex had to shock them repeatedly just to take one down and he felt it was wearing him out fast.

Another resident of the tower was porygon, a very angular pokemon that looked very artificial, like it had been put together by a computer (not that Alex remembered what a computer was). To describe it accurately, Alex felt would've been hard. He received a literal shock from one when it suddenly discharged electricity in all directions and Alex quickly took it down before Eve got hurt further.

It almost seemed as if the tower were fighting them, keeping them from reaching the top. At least, that's how it felt to Alex.

_'Course, it might just be the desperate situation and rush we're in that's making it seem that way…_ he thought privately.

He was grateful that it was relatively easy to find the way up in the tower. The rooms tended to be in sequence: one or two exits per room with an unbranching hallway connecting them, making only one actual path. The only trouble was when they went the wrong way, then they'd have to backtrack all the way the other direction. The interference from the tower residents didn't help.

Around the tenth floor, the fatigue of climbing and dealing with all the residents started to set in and they stopped to rest a moment, keeping an eye out for other pokemon that might wander in.

"Whew… this is fun…" Eve panted, apparently trying to keep up a good spirit with a bit of humor.

"Yeah… real fun dealing with those lunatone…" Alex grumbled irritably. Lunatone were also residents of the tower and they looked like a crescent moon with a nose and a creepy red eye in the center; they were made of rock. One of the last ones they had encountered had hypnotized Alex into a deep sleep. Luckily, Eve had been fighting alongside him and it seemed the hovering moon didn't like Eve's attempts to bite it and had fled after a few snaps. They figured it was psychic type, which explained how it hovered.

"We've got each other to lean on whenever we need help Alex." Eve assured him. "I'm sure we can make it to the top."

Alex reaffirmed his resolve and nodded in agreement. Their decision to start moving again was reinforced by another lunatone hovering into the room.

They ran from the floating moon-rock and found the stairs in the next room. They immediately headed up to the next floor.

They fought their way to the fourteenth floor and, finding things to be empty there, they took a moment to recover their strength more.

"How many more floor do you think we've got left?" Alex asked.

"I think we're half-way…" Eve said though she was clearly uncertain.

Then the room shook. They had to catch themselves even though they were sitting to avoid falling over. They had been experiencing the tremors all the way up.

"That's the worst one yet." Eve said, still tense as if ready for another one immediately afterwards.

It obviously wasn't a good sign, especially the fact that they were worsening.

"We'd better just get going. Fast!" Alex said, standing up. Eve followed suit and they charged onwards, pressed for time.

o0o

The second stretch of the tower was considerably harder. The porygon were replaced with their evolved, upgraded counterparts. Porygon2 looked like normal porygon, except all their edges were smooth, giving the pokemon an appearance almost like a space-ship.

Bronzor were also replaced by their evolved forms, which were bronzong: massive, bell-shaped things that looked like the kind of bell you'd see in the bell-tower of a temple or some similar structure.

_Rather fitting… I suppose Temporal Tower is sort of a temple to time itself._ Alex reflected.

However, the bronzong actively barred their paths like their predecessors and were more effective about it too. Not only that, they were extremely slow to fall and it was after only a few fights with some that Alex resorted to using items to just remove the annoyances from their path rather than knock them out.

As they climbed the tower, Alex could swear he could hear a ticking sound like a clock. There weren't any mechanical parts to the tower though as far as he could tell. The tower was made of stone.

_Am I hearing things?_

He shook this off though and focused on the climb.

Alex was grateful in the end to only encounter the final porygon evolution once. Porygon Z, as it was called, looked bizarre. To Alex, it looked like a porygon2 had sprouted another leg on its underside and someone had taken its initial legs and moved them up near the head, but that someone had forgotten to change their function to arms. Then there was the porygon's eyes. Alex was sure, judging from those eyes, that there was something _seriously_ wrong with porygon Z. He couldn't find the words to describe just how "weirded-out" he was by the sight of the thing.

Then it unleashed a wave of electricity. The wave washed over Alex, who shielded Eve from the blast, barely hurting him. Fortunately, they were in a hall and the porygon was a fair distance from them so the blast was weakened enough for Alex to shield Eve. Alex decided to make use of the extra electricity and discharged as well, giving the porygon Z a taste of its own medicine. It seemed to dance a weird jig in the air as it was hit and then drew closer to them. Alex felt like just _looking_ at it was driving him mad!

He jumped up at its head and slammed it over the head with his tail. It crumpled to the ground, twitching and flailing its limbs hopelessly.

"C'mon, before I start trying to figure out what's up with that thing." Alex groaned and pulled Eve past it.

They headed up and continued onwards, fighting more residents of the tower.

o0o

They finally arrived to open air… they were at the top.

"Finally!- Whoa!" Eve yelped when she looked up. Alex also glanced up as well and swallowed hard.

The red clouds they had seen over the tower when they had first arrived at the Hidden Land had looked sinister from a distance. However, like the tower, the real nature of those clouds was much more evident up close.

Alex felt like the clouds were menacing him and the tower; if they had had eyes, they would've been glaring at him. There was a hole in the center like the clouds were a hurricane overhead and red bolts of energy were crackling around the clouds, coming out of that hole.

One bolt of that energy came shooting down and hit the stone top of the tower. Immediately the entire tower trembled and the team had to steady themselves again. The tremor almost seemed like it wouldn't stop but it finally did after several moments.

"I don't think Temporal Tower is going to last much longer." Alex said, tense and very nervous.

"We need to get these time gears in place! Quickly!" Eve said, louder than needed "Where do we put them?"

They hurried forward, scanning the top of the tower, which was clear of any enemies as far as they could tell. They were in a straightaway on the circuluar top of the tower, which was lined by six thick columns, three on each side. In the back, was a large stand, which had a massive slab standing atop it with a circular stone in the middle. If there had been a chair there, Alex would've felt certain it was a throne. His eyes were drawn to the stone on the slab.

There were five holes in the stone that were gear-shaped and when Alex looked at it, he felt instinctively as if he were looking at a clock, etched with the same material that was glowing all over the tower. The holes were where a two, four, six, eight, and ten would have been on a clock. Only the twelve-o-clock position was intact. The shape of the holes was a dead giveaway of course.

"There!" he yelled pointing at it "Put the time gears in there!"

Eve nodded and started forward but a brilliant blue bolt of energy struck down out of nowhere and Eve yelped, jumping back as everything darkened.

"**Who…Who dares destroy the tower?**" A deep, powerful voice echoed.

"We're not here to destroy the tower!" Eve yelled into the air "We're here to prevent time from stopping!"

The voice growled and then roared. Another bolt of blue energy struck with a bright flash. They both looked away to avoid being blinded.

When they looked again, they were face-to-face with Dialga. They both took a nervous step back but stopped themselves from fleeing altogether.

Dialga was almost the same as he had been in the future. Massive, with legs as thick and tough as trees, with a chest plated in metal, emblazoned with a brilliant gem. However, the glowing strands over his body and the gem on Dialga's chest were blinking red and blue like the material of the tower. Dialga was also shaking despite his sturdy build and growling words incoherently, like he wasn't completely in control.

Alex glanced at his partner, who looked back.

They knew they only had one choice.

"C'mon Eve." Alex said, with a dissonant calmness "We're not out of time yet. Dialga's losing his reason due to time going out of control, but he's not completely lost yet! We can still save him!"

Eve nodded, looking nervous but determined like she had so many other times.

_We just need to weaken him enough that we can get past him._

They turned to face Dialga, who roared, unable to control himself. Alex felt every nerve in his body bristle with tension and he charged, Eve following him.

As they came closer, Dialga's chest gem glowed and the lord of time roared again, sending a wave of power ripping across the top of the tower.

To Alex, in that instant, it felt like every part of his body was aging or getting younger all at once, at different rates. Then the world shattered and he jumped out of an explosion of mystical energy. He shook off the feeling it had left and glanced at Eve, who had also managed to avoid the full blast of the attack.

They ran closer as Dialga heaved in deep breaths, clearly having momentarily exhausted itself with the attack.

Alex immediately unleashed a blast of electricity at Dialga and Eve attempted to hit the time lord's legs.

Dialga raised one foot and slammed it down where Eve was. She screamed and darted out of the way as the attack broke the stone and sent fragments of rock flying into the air.

Their attacks seemed to not even faze Dialga. Alex unleashed a stronger electrical blast at him and while his partner was still trying to strike at the front legs.

Again, their opponent raised a massive foot and Alex felt extreme pain as the claws on Dialga's foot ripped down his body. He gasped out of shock but managed to stay on his feet as he clutched at the wound, his ear choosing that time to fall over his eye.

Eve cried out in concern and Dialga roared again, sending another wave of sheer power ripping through the air.

Privately, Alex promised himself, if there was another life to live, he'd _never_ go without reviver seeds ever again.

The blast of energy that hit him was so powerful… so utterly overwhelming... Alex didn't actually feel any pain as it all but destroyed him. He knew that he would've been dead for sure if not for the reviver seed he had packed. The ray of light shot from the treasure bag and hit him, his body was immediately restored completely.

As he got up, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling left over, he saw that Eve had avoided the attack again, by some miracle. She was still pressing her attack, Dialga breathing hard again. If Dialga wasn't taken down soon, Eve would likely get hurt. Alex's mind wouldn't accept that happening.

"Alright Dialga. This might hurt a bit." Alex growled as he pushed his ear out of the way and focused the electricity flowing in his body.

Eve was surprised when, quite suddenly, a glaringly bright ball of pure electrical power came flying at Dialga and slammed the legendary straight in the chest.

Dialga staggered back, the attack having more power than Eve had ever seen. The ball fell back to the ground and cleared momentarily to reveal Alex in the core. He was still in a bubble of electricity.

Dialga turned and attempted to slash Alex with his claws again but the pikachu rolled out of the way and jumped into the air again, twirling. The electric ball was back and slammed Dialga again.

This was getting to be too much for even Dialga, who swayed slightly. Alex landed again and looked over at his partner. They acted in sync with each other out of instinct.

They charged at each other, then jumped side-by-side, up at Dialga's head.

"NOW!" They both yelled and slammed Dialga over the head with their attacks. Eve smacked him with a head-butt and Alex brought his tail down on Dialga's face. This was too much for their opponent to stand up to and the lord of time staggered, before crumpling down onto his front knees with a low crunch from the ground.

"We… We did it!" Eve panted. She was badly scratched up and had a wound from head-butting metallic hide but as she looked as Alex, she was startled as realized she was in relatively good condition.

Alex was burnt and bleeding in various locations even though a reviver seed had restored him about half a minute ago. His ears were tattered and he looked utterly disheveled as he breathed in and out, hard. Eve could tell just from looking that he had no electricity left in him to use.

"A-Alex… a-are you alright?" Eve said, immediately worried about him.

Then the tower began to shake and wouldn't stop. A red bolt of energy shot down from the sky again, causing a column it hit to explode into fragments! What was left fell over. Fortunately, none of the fragments hit them.

"I'll be fine…" Alex wheezed "Get the time gears into place before it's too late… I don't think I can move quickly enough after all that…"

Eve was hesitant to leave Alex's side. He looked ready to fall over any moment.

"GO!" he yelled, and winced as his injuries were strained.

Eve hurried away, edging around Dialga, who growled and shifted but didn't rise.

She ran up the steps of the stand in the back and pulled out the five time gears as she approached the circular stone. She found it difficult to place the gears with the shaking of the tower but she finally managed to do it and soon, all five gears were slotted in place.

"There! Done!" she yelled. The stone glowed and when the light faded, the gears were gone and the stone was whole. It looked like a clock face without numbers, a blue circle in the 12, 3, 6, and 9 positions.

Then the tower gave a violent lurch causing Eve to stagger back and tumble in a ball down the steps she had just climbed. She landed at the bottom of the steps, landing on something unusually soft.

"Oof!"

When she got off, she realized Alex had run and dived to act as a cushion for her when she tumbled down the stairs. She'd landed on his back.

"Alex! You didn't need to do that!" she said, more shocked about him doing it in his current condition than the fact that he had at all. Her concerns for him were interrupted when the tower's tremors became comparable to a severe earthquake. She looked around as more red bolts of energy struck at the tower.

"Was I too late?"

Another bolt struck one of the columns and Eve protectively covered Alex as it came toppling down, landing with a crash a short distance from them. The stone ground near the stand cracked, the entire stand threatening to fall away from the tower.

Eve screamed as the chaos hit its peak and both of them passed out.

o0o

Alex woke up first. The first thing he saw was a clear, blue sky overhead.

"Where-?" he murmured and sat up, feeling sore. A brief look around told him he was still at the top of Temporal Tower. However, the tremors had ended, the red clouds overhead were completely gone… everything was silent. He glanced down at himself and realized his wounds had healed enough that he was no longer bleeding though they were far from gone.

Eve woke up a moment later and looked around.

"We're… we're still at the tower?" she mumbled. The stand was still there. The glowing material of the tower was now a solid, unchanging blue.

"**Yes. This is Temporal Tower.**" A deep voice said in gentle tones.

The two explorers looked in the direction of the voice and staggered to their feet in alarm when they saw Dialga standing before them.

"**There is no need for alarm.**" Dialga said calmly "**I have regained my reason.**"

On closer inspection, Alex noticed that Dialga seemed to be almost entirely silver (of metal) and blue now. No red to be seen. His eyes also had a gentle intelligence to them now. Alex felt a little like he might've been looking at Torkoal's eyes… only much more powerful. They were old, wise, and powerful to be sure… but kind and compassionate as well.

"We-we prevented the planet's paralysis?" Eve said hopefully, her eyes bright.

"**Allow me to show you.**" Dialga said and his chest gem glinted. Alex seemed to get lost in that light and he was suddenly looking over the landscape as if he were flying over all the land.

His vision zoomed in on a forest he recognized as Treeshroud Forest.

"Dialga must be showing us this using his powers." Eve's voice said from Alex's right, where she had been. It was apparent they were still at the tower but their vision was being allowed to see elsewhere.

Treeshroud Forest was a healthy, vibrant green.

"Hey! Time's no longer stopped there!" Eve said excited.

The wind was shifting the trees and the forest was in full color.

Their vision faded and they were then looking over Treasure Town. Everyone looked excited as the news of the time stop disappearing, spread.

"Everyone looks so happy…" Alex said fondly.

Their vision changed again and they were looking at the Hidden Land. The Hidden Land looked like it had started to crumble away, falling to the ocean that presumably awaited below, but it was as if it had suddenly just changed its mind about falling apart or something and stopped right where it was. Their vision was then focused on Temporal Tower.

The Tower looked like a few explosions had blown holes in the sides… but it was clearly still standing firmly in place.

Their vision faded again and they were back on top of the tower. Alex blinked, getting over the weird feeling from the experience.

"**Allow me to thank you.**" Dialga said, unmistakable gratitude in his voice "**I thank you for having the courage to stand up to me, even as I raged out of control. You stopped the disaster in time. I thank you… for bringing peace to all of the world.**"

Eve cheered loudly and tackled Alex in an excited hug. He stumbled back, managing to stay on his feet though he felt several aches pop up.

"Yay! We did it, Alex! We brought peace to everyone!"

"Y-Yeah…" Alex stammered, getting very hot in the face and wanting to yelp in pain but he smiled as well as Eve pulled away.

Dialga gave them a warm smile and looked around at the sorry state of the tower.

"**It will take time to repair the tower… but know that you two have my gratitude. You are welcome to visit the Hidden Land again any time.**"

"Thank you Dialga, sir." Eve said. They both bowed their heads in respect.

"We probably should get going back to the guild." Alex said and they headed down, going back out the tower.


	38. Memories

**_Here's the sad half of the finale. This might wander a bit into romantic territory but I don't think I got it that serious. Still, if you don't like it... you've been warned._**

**_I hope I've done well._**

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 37: Memories

The trip down Temporal Tower was relatively easy and Team Long Ears soon reached the bottom. It was as they were leaving after coming out of the tower entrance that Alex started to feel strange.

As he followed Eve down the rock path, his breathing became labored.

_Why… is it getting… so hard… to walk?_

It felt to Alex as if every part of his body was carrying an extra pound of weight on it. And that weight was gradually increasing until he found just raising his foot to be a task requiring herculean effort.

"Alex c'mon, what's taking you?" Eve called back, not impatiently. She was too cheerful from rescuing the world to be upset with him.

_I'm trying…_ he thought, annoyed with how his body was acting. Then he saw something and his efforts ceased.

A small wisp of light rose up in front of him and faded into nothing. Another one soon followed. He looked at where they were coming from and realized it was himself.

_That's right… I must be disappearing from history now…_

Alex had forgotten in the excitement of saving the world. Being reminding about it by the event actually happening was saddening but he knew there was nothing that could be done about it.

_Alright… I guess it's time to go…_

Eve came back and was about to ask why he had stopped but then she noticed the lights.

"Alex, what's going on?"

Alex gave his partner an apologetic smile.

"Sorry Eve… I really should've told you sooner… but... I have to disappear…"

As he expected, Eve's cheerful mood faltered in her shock.

"What? Why?"

"We changed the future… I came from a future that now no longer exists. I'm so sorry…"

Eve stepped closer, tears already forming in her eyes.

"Alex… please, don't go… I-I don't know what I'd do without you…"

It was clear that, though she understood, Eve didn't want to accept it as something that must happen. Alex obviously would've liked to stay as well... to not leave his partner but he couldn't do anything about his own disappearance and he knew it.

"Eve… go back home… go back to Treasure Town. Tell everyone what happened here and do everything you can to prevent something like this from happening again. _Live_. Do that for me, okay?"

Eve didn't want to let go though.

"Alex, no… I can't do it… not without you."

"Eve, I know you can. I've worked with you all these weeks. You've grown into an excellent explorer. I _know_ you can do it."

Eve shook her head though, still refusing to accept this. Alex noticed the lights were becoming thicker and more numerous. His end was drawing closer.

"You're… you're my partner Alex… We've always worked together. I don't want to go on without you." His partner continued to insist. He really wished he didn't have to do this to her.

"You've always been the same to me as well." He responded, emotion building in his chest "My partner through and through. There's never been any way I could ever replace you Eve. You're also my irreplaceable partner. I've had fun exploring with you." He tried to cheer her up with a warm, sincere smile.

"No… don't go…" she said, coming closer.

The lights got even denser in number and Alex knew he was going to fade from existence any second.

"Eve… even after I'm gone… I'll never forget you…"

By this point, it seemed like Alex's very eyelids were too heavy to keep up and so he closed his eyes. His body seemed to suddenly lose all weight and he knew no more.

o0o

Eve had been trying not to scream in despair the entire time. As Alex closed his eyes, his entire body seemed to become transparent and start fading very quickly.

"_Alex! No!_" she cried and attempted to tackle him. Anything to keep him from going anywhere without her. She toppled into the light and the wisps of light scattered around her, leaving her with nothing on the cool rock path.

She looked around desperately. Hoping to see her partner somewhere. Hoping she had knocked him out of disappearing. Anything to give her hope.

The cold, hard truth before her eyes could not be denied.

With a sorrowful wail, crying his name, the eevee collapsed on the spot, sobbing uncontrollably.

o0o

It was several minutes before she managed to work herself to her feet and stem the tears even slightly.

"_I have to get back… have to get back…it was his last wish…"_ was repeating in her mind. It was the only thought that kept her from collapsing again in sorrow. She was unstable on her feet as it was, tripping over her feet at one point. She got up though, still trying to blink back more tears and came to the Rainbow Stoneship, still waiting at the end of the path.

She couldn't stand to look back at Temporal Tower while riding the Stoneship. She felt like she was watching herself move away from her lost partner and that only further wounded her heart. Tearing her apart.

She managed to navigate through the forests of the Hidden Land alone, running from the few aggressive pokemon she ran across, until she finally arrived at where Lapras waited.

Lapras did not ask what had happened but solemnly and quietly allowed Eve to climb on and disembarked away from the Hidden Land, leaving her passenger alone while she took the lone eevee back home.

o0o

Eve returned to the guild and managed a smile for everyone as they all came out and welcomed her back home.

She told the story of what had happened at the Hidden Land. She told it to all who would listen, which was everyone in the guild and around Treasure Town. She never turned down any request to hear it.

o0o

About a month later, Eve was heading outside the guild following a day of work inside and Bidoof passed her on the way out.

"Where ya goin', Eve?" Bidoof asked cheerily.

"Just for a walk." She said with a gentle smile.

"Well, be sure to come back soon, yup yup. Wouldn't want to miss dinner."

With that, Eve headed down the steps from the guild while Bidoof headed inside.

She wandered around town and in the end, her meandering path led her down to the beach.

It was a warm, pleasant evening so the krabby were perched on the rocks down at the beach, exhaling bubbles into the air and enjoying themselves in the waning light.

Eve walked out onto the sand and glanced out at the ocean, seeing the vast field of bubbles hovering through the air, catching the light and making it shine beautifully across the beach.

"Wow… so beautiful…" she murmured, slightly enamored with the scene.

"I've just been too busy lately to come down here and see this..."

After a few moments of watching, she started to wonder:

"When _was_ the last time I saw this?"

Going through her memories she fell upon the one answer… and she was mildly shocked when she realized it.

"The last time I saw this… was when I met Alex." She murmured.

She looked around the sand… almost as if expecting to see him appear. She approached the spot where she had first seen him, lying in the sand. She remembered how she had panicked then, worried the stranger was dead.

"That was the start of Team Long Ears… when we met like that." She said to herself, remembering the event fondly. From there, more memories came back to her:

The naming of their team and their first meeting with the Guildmaster.  
>Rescuing Azurill and the satisfaction between both of them of having saved him.<br>Their daring charge into the waterfall, finding and then exploring the cave behind it.  
>Their encounter with Uxie's Groudon illusion and her determination then to stand up to it along side her partner.<br>Their first team-up with Grovyle, escaping from the sableye in the future.  
>Alex's attempts to encourage her to keep going then when she was about to give up.<br>All the times Alex had ever given her courage to go forward or stood by her side through difficult or fearful times.

The memories were numerous and Eve felt overwhelmed with emotion as she recalled each and every one of them. She looked down at the sand as old feelings returned to her with those memories.

"Memories of Alex…" she murmured sadly

_But he's no longer here… Alex is gone…_

"Alex…" her voice broke and she quietly collapsed on the sand, her emotions finally bursting free along with her tears.

Bidoof came by perhaps a minute later, looking for her and was startled to see her collapsed as she was on the sand. He ran up to her and put a paw on her to get her attention.

"Eve! You didn't come back to the guild so I came looking for ya." He said, clearly concerned about her.

Eve got up and turned to look at Bidoof, her eyes red from tears.

She then wailed and threw herself on the poor, thoroughly confused pokemon, continuing to sob. Bidoof was, needless to say, quite shocked and had no idea what to do.

o0o

Some miles away, Dialga was looking out over the edge of the tower. Even from this far away, he could sense Eve's emotions… so intense as they were.

"**When you left this land… I felt your sorrow.**" He murmured, though Eve wouldn't hear.

"**Though you do not know it… the world needs both of you.**"

Dialga closed his eyes and focused as he resolved himself to doing something he wouldn't normally.

"**If you still feel that sorrow even now… then please take my offering.**"

He opened his eyes again as the power glinted in the gem upon his chest.

"**This is my thanks! Please accept it!**" he then let out a commanding roar that echoed across the world.

o0o

Alex suddenly found himself feeling a breeze and hearing water. His body had weight again and was rapidly returning to its normal feeling.

"Hey! Is that…?" he heard a familiar voice somewhere out in front of him.

He blinked as he opened his eyes… everything was a bit of a blur and he frankly felt like he had been asleep for some unknown length of time.

"Alex?" another voice that he knew spoke. His vision focused better and he realized he was at the beach.

He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was dreaming after having vanished.

"Eve?" he asked, trying to confirm who he thought he was hearing. He felt his ear fall over his eye and hand.

"_Oof_!"

A weight hit him in the chest and his eyes flew open to a blur of orange, yellow and brown. It finally stopped and he found himself on his back, underneath Eve who was sobbing and pounding on him with one paw. Eve had tackled him, sending the two of them into a tumbling roll, which ended with her on top of him.

"_Don't! Ever! Do that! To me! Again!_" Eve was yelling as she hit him.

"Ack! Ow! Help!" Alex yelped. Her paw didn't hurt that much but it still felt humiliating. Then Eve stopped hitting him and Alex knew his face was bright red when she embraced him around the neck.

"I-I-I missed you so… so much…" she was sobbing softly into his shoulder. Alex blinked, thoroughly confused, unable to understand how he had gotten here.

"Hey there, Alex!" Bidoof said, running up beside him on the sand "Where'd ya come from? You just seemed to appear from nowhere! Thought I saw a light but..." Bidoof trailed off, shrugging.

"_This is my thanks… please accept it."_ A familiar yet distant voice echoed in Alex's head.

"I… found my way home again." He told Bidoof calmly, his confusion going away. Then hugged Eve close, comforting her as she happily continued to sob into his shoulder.

He was home again and he would be happy to see everyone. At the moment though, he couldn't have been happier to be reunited with his partner again.

###

_**This isn't the end of this novelization. This is just the end of Part One.**_

_**So keep with me and I hope I continue to do fine work.**_


	39. Graduation

_**Here's the next chapter. This is a pretty silly chapter to contrast the recent chapters.**_

**_Enjoy._**

PMD 2: A Novelization

Part 2, Chapter 38: Graduation

Alex took a few days to catch up with what had been going on over the last month while he was gone from existence. The other guild members had understood that he was gone but they were quite pleasantly surprised when he showed up with a red-eyed (from crying) and very ecstatic Eve.

Things had gotten relatively calm and peaceful ever since they had prevented time from stopping. Jobs were fewer in number, though nowhere near gone or non-existent.

Life around Treasure Town and in the Guild was pleasant for several weeks.

Then Team Long Ears received a surprise one morning…

o0o

"Graduation?" Eve cried out in shock.

Chatot had just announced to the guild members that Team Long Ears had been deemed ready for graduation from the guild.

"Yes. Graduation." Chatot repeated in confirmation "The two of you have worked quite hard all this time with us and the Guildmaster feels you are ready for the graduation exam."

"Hey hey! A lot of us have been working here a lot longer than them and _we_ haven't even gotten the _chance_ to graduate!" Corphish complained.

"A lot of you haven't saved the whole world like Team Long Ears." Chatot countered. Alex shyly scratched his head and looked away from everyone else.

"Loudred tried the graduation exam already in the past," Sunflora pointed out "And he failed spectacularly!" she laughed. Loudred, of course, looked sour at this memory.

"Anyways, Team Long Ears has been chosen for the graduation exam and there will be no argument against it!" Chatot declared firmly. Some of the guild members looked a little sulky over this but accepted the circumstances without further complaint.

"What are we doing for this exam?" Eve asked. Wigglytuff stepped forward to explain.

"You will be exploring Mystifying Forest to the north. You will be searching for the ultimate treasure at Luminous Spring." The Guildmaster explained.

They looked like they were a little mystified just hearing the description of their job.

Chatot had them open their wonder map and he pointed out a forest a little ways to the north of Waterfall Cave.

"Deep in the forest, there's a spring with lots of light where pokemon would go to evolve. That's Luminous Spring." Wigglytuff explained "Ever since the problem with time stopping though, the Spring has lost its light and pokemon around town have been unable to evolve."

Alex recalled hearing something about this a long time ago… something about an inability to evolve at any rate. His memory was a bit rusty though and he couldn't remember where he'd heard it.

"So that's your exam!" Wigglytuff said cheerily.

"Alright, that sounds simple enough." Alex commented confidently.

"But…" Wigglytuff added in "You'd better watch out for the biggest danger there…"

"Huh?" Team Long Ears blinked. Though Alex and Eve didn't notice in their staring, a few guild members silently stifled chortles and put on straight faces again before they could be noticed.

"Deep in Mystifying Forest… there's something known as the Grand Master of All Things Bad. You'd better be careful!" The Guildmaster said, rather brightly for such a grave warning.

"Well!" Chatot said, rather quickly "Let's get to work everyone!" everyone except a thoroughly confused Alex and Eve cheered and headed out for the usual work.

"Wait! What?" Eve yelled belatedly but everyone was already disappearing as they set off for work. With some desperation, she called after Loudred.

"Hey, Loudred! You've taken the graduation exam before. What happened?"

Loudred looked uncomfortable and scratched the back of his head, averting his eyes.

"I'm afraid I CAN'T tell you. It's actually a RULE." Loudred said, almost guiltily.

"It sure is SCARY though…" he murmured and shuttered before going to work with a tense look.

"Aw man…" Eve moaned and looked at Alex with obvious nervousness "I don't like the sounds of this Grandmaster… but I guess we'll just have to hope we don't run into it."

Alex was personally feeling like he had just been zinged… like he was the butt of a joke. He shook off the feeling though.

"Yeah, you're right," he told his partner "Let's just get this graduation over with."

"Well, what with that Grandmaster we might have to deal with, we'd better be well-prepared. So let's head down to the Treasure Town to get ready." Eve said.

o0o

On their way into town, Alex and his partner ran into Teddiursa and Ursaring. Alex still remembered Teddiursa from the Hot Spring and had seen the little bear with Ursaring around town. Ursaring was considerably taller than Teddiursa and was like a grizzly bear: Large, dark brown, a fierce face (that was nonetheless friendly), with ragged fur and had a white ring on his belly. Both were pleased to see them.

"Hey there, Team Long Ears," Teddiursa greeted them "We were just heading out."

"Oh? Where are you going?" Eve said, curious.

"Mystifying Forest."

Eve was a little shocked and promptly warned them about the Grandmaster they'd heard about.

To their surprise, both bears gave them raised eyebrows.

"Grandmaster of All of Things Bad?" Teddiursa said, clearly bemused "Me and Ursaring have played in Mystifying Forest plenty of times and we never encountered any sort of Grandmaster…"

The team blinked, a little stunned. Ursaring shrugged.

"Maybe you just heard a bad rumor…"

"Anyways, we're heading out. See you later." Teddiursa cheerily waved goodbye as they walked past and out of town.

"Okay… something's wrong here…" Alex muttered, shaking his head while trying to figure everything out. His ear flopped over his eye as usual and he had to push it back up.

"I don't know what to believe here but…" Eve shrugged "Again, let's just get ready and get this over with."

They visited the market and the storage shop before heading for Mystifying Forest.

o0o

On arrival at the forest, Alex's tension about the task ahead climbed further.

"Alright… let's do this and graduate." He said, not feeling completely confident.

"Yeah. I know we can do this. Together." Eve said, smiling brightly. That encouraged Alex and they headed in.

Most of the forest's residents that they initially encountered were weaker pokemon that, up until that point, they hadn't encountered before in any mystery dungeons.

One of the most common were turtwig. Turtwig were grass-types that looked like a little turtle with an earthen shell and a little sprout growing from its head. Their evolved counter-parts also appeared as well: grotle. Grotle were bigger and clearly more grown with bushes on their shell.

Both weren't particularly hard for Team Long Ears.

Other common encounters were spearow (fierce, aggressive, little birds), chikorita (another four-legged grass-type that was rather non-descript with a leaf growing from its head), and many, many others.

As they headed down, Alex happened to pick up a trawl orb. This was a wonder orb he hadn't seen before. Eve explained to him that it called all items in the local area to him.

Upon arriving at a deeper part of the forest and finding a way even deeper right there before them, Alex decided to try out the orb. He smashed it on the ground, activating it and immediately several items came flying into the area they were in and landed safely on the ground around him.

This was followed by a cry of outrage from somewhere else in the forest.

Alex noticed a green and yellow stone that had landed right at his feet. He picked it up and looked at it. It had an odd pattern on it and…

_A price tag?_

He took one look at the slip of paper (tied around it with a bit of string) noting the stone as costing 1000 poke… and realized his mistake.

"Uh-oh… Eve, grab all you can and run!"

They hurriedly gathered the items and fled deeper into the forest. They didn't look back.

He'd actually heard about someone who had made the same error and had tried to return the item(s)… it didn't work… however, Alex had long forgotten that tale. All he remembered was that if they had stuck around… they would be in serious trouble. Nevermind the Grandmaster…

Eve wasn't happy with what they had done but she took it in stride and they just kept the items. Several of them were truly valuable: they were actually evolution stones. Eve pointed out the one he had picked up was a Thunder Stone.

_That explains why it looks like there's a lightning bolt on the stone…_

Then Eve pointed out that a pikachu could normally evolve using it.

"Excuse me?" Alex said, blinking in astonishment. He hadn't forgotten he was a pikachu himself and evolving wasn't something that had ever occurred to him. Given that he was human originally, this wasn't surprising.

"You'd become a raichu if you could…" Eve said, a note of disappointment in her voice.

Alex was about to ask why she had said "if he could", when he remembered what the Guildmaster had said about the spring in this forest. He felt a pang of disappointment himself for a moment but soon discarded it.

"Oh well, I'm kinda used to being this way anyhow," Alex said, shrugging "C'mon, let's get going."

o0o

The forest was relatively easy (though the occasional torterra, the final evolution of turtwig, gave Alex trouble), especially after having dealt with Temporal Tower.

They finally arrived at a small, grassy clearing.

"I think we're almost to the spring. It's just ahead." Eve said.

"Hey! Team Long Ears!"

They turned around to see Teddiursa and Ursaring both coming up from behind them.

"So… did you find your 'Grandmaster of All Things Bad'?" Ursaring said, with a hint of teasing in his tones.

"Er… no…" Alex admitted… he was starting to think that perhaps that had just been a trick to make them nervous now.

"See? Told you probably just heard a bad rumor." Ursaring said good naturedly.

"Hey, you're looking for Luminous Spring, aren't you?" Teddiursa said and they nodded.

"Luminous Spring is just ahead. C'mon."

The two bears stepped around the team and proceeded ahead, going around the center of the clearing. Alex and Eve took about two steps after them, going through the center of the clearing and the ground gave way under them. Both cried out in surprise as they fell several feet and tumbled into a large clear chamber underground.

"A trap…" Alex groaned irritably as he got up.

"So how do we get out?" Eve said, looking up at the hole they had just fallen through.

Then with a low grinding noise of something being dragged over the ground, something covered up the hole. They found themselves completely in the dark.

"Well, this is great…" Alex said snarkily.

"You are surrounded…" someone spoke from around them.

"Huh? Who there?" a startled Eve shouted into the dark.

"I am the Grandmaster of All Things Bad…" the voice said in a spooky tone.

Alex's mind flew into overdrive, ready to fight for dear life.

"And his minions." Someone else spoke.

_Wait a minute… why does that voice sound familiar?_

Nonetheless, Alex was ready to fry anything that attacked him in the dark. He just hoped Eve would be okay. He couldn't see anything and had little idea of what Eve was doing.

Then the light returned to the room.

They were surrounded alright…

By the guild members. The guildmaster was directly in front of them and Chatot was to the right.

"What?" Team Long Ears was dumbstruck.

Chatot jumped and looked up at the hole over head.

"Bidoof! What do you think you're doing?" he yelled.

Bidoof peered down into the hole from above.

"Well… I thought it seemed awful dark down there… I thought y'all could use some light…"

He scratched his head though, confused.

"Oof. I've never helped with the graduation exam before… I'm just not used to this…"

Chatot slapped a wing over his face in disbelief, muttering irritated curse words.

Team Long Ears, meanwhile, had gotten over their shock and now Alex was giving them an unamused look. Eve looked a little putout as well.

"Ha ha… very funny Wigglytuff…" Alex deadpanned, his ears drooping downwards in his irritation.

"Who's Wigglytuff?" the Guildmaster said, still using his spooky tone as if they were still operating in the dark.

Chatot blinked, apparently stunned that the guildmaster was still carrying on with the charade but the Guildmaster plowed on. Chatot and the others finally decided to just continue to play along.

"Now you fight the hardest battle of all!" he declared, all with a bright smile completely at odds with his tone.

"I don't know about fighting everyone like this…" Eve muttered to Alex as the guild closed in.

Alex rolled his eyes at the ridiculous situation they were in.

"Let's just beat them as they apparently want and get out of this hole already." Alex said to her quietly and then a thought crossed his mind and he glanced over at Loudred.

"Besides…" he added, a grin spreading on his face and sparks crackling at his cheeks "I've been wanting an excuse to repay Loudred for all those wake-up calls."

It started with Alex unleashing a blast of electricity in all directions. Diglett was overwhelmed by the electrical shock despite being ground-type. Many of the other guildmembers evaded the electrical discharge and got closer so they could attack. Croagunk was blasted off his feet by the electricity though, floored in one hit.

Eve snapped at Chimecho when she got close. The little wind-chime pokemon yelped as Eve bit her tail and dropped out of the air. Alex turned to Chatot and the bird braced himself for pain as Alex unleashed an electrical charge directly at him. Chatot staggered at he was fried and fell to the ground. Alex was sure they were actually tougher than this but, for the purposes of the graduation, they were going relatively easy.

_Or have we really gotten so tough that we can take on the entire guild? _Alex wondered.

Sunflora then hurled a storm of glowing leaves at Alex, who endured the attack. Loudred attempted to bring his foot down on Eve, who jumped out of the way. Dugtrio also lunged at her and she was scratched. The guildmaster himself came at Alex, swinging one of his stumpy arms. For someone that looked so soft, Alex found Wigglytuff hit hard.

Corphish was just coming up behind Alex when the former human decided to blast the area around him with electricity. The pikachu witnessed, with some satisfaction, Loudred's look of worry as the electricity flew loose.

"Oh crap…" Loudred muttered before he was hit by an intense blast of electricity, which knocked him to the ground.

Corphish also went down as the electricity thoroughly fried the water-type.

Eve still looked uneasy about continuing to fight those she considered friends but she flung herself bodily at Dugtrio and tackled the group of moles, knocking them down.

The only guild member standing against Team Long Ears then was Wigglytuff.

The guildmaster swung at Alex again and he leapt back, out of the way.

Alex used a bit more strategy against the guildmaster and shocked him with a lighter amount of electricity first. This paralyzed the guildmaster. Eve seized the opportunity to tackle him.

Alex shocked the guildmaster again, using a stronger charge and Eve continued her attacks. The guildmaster though was soaking up the damage and Alex started to wonder when he'd finally give in.

"Guildmaster or not… I'm not letting _anyone_ stand between us and our objective." Alex declared and whipped around, slapping Wigglytuff with his tail.

The guildmaster apparently decided then that that was enough. He toppled and fell on his face.

"Argh… they got me…" he said in a tone that wasn't altogether convincing "R-Run!"

All the guildmembers (Wigglytuff jumping back to his feet) then scrambled or flew for the exit. Yelling and crying out with fake screams.

After a few minutes of careful climbing, Alex and Eve made their way out of the hole themselves.

"What was _that_ all about anyways?" Eve said in disbelief. The guild was already gone from sight.

"Lamest joke we've ever seen…?" Alex grumbled, looking around for any more hi-jinx waiting for them.

"Well, c'mon. Luminous Spring is just ahead. We need to finish this and graduate." Eve said shaking her head and they proceeded forward.


	40. Distorted

_**I've kinda slowed down, haven't I? Well, here's the next chapter. A bit of surprises awaiting here.**_

_**I hope you enjoy it.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 39: Distorted

Team Long Ears caught up with the two bear-pokemon soon enough at what was supposedly Luminous Spring.

They were looking at each other, asking who should attempt to open a box that was just sitting on the ground. Both seemed too afraid to dare touch it.

"Hey Team Long Ears…" Teddiursa said as they arrived "What took you? I thought you were just behind us."

"We… had to handle something real quick…" Alex said with an uneasy glance back the way they'd come. Teddiursa shrugged and then explained what they were doing.

"We just found this box here and we're not really sure what to do about it…"

"We'd open it…" Ursaring commented, he looked uneasy "But it could be booby trapped."

"I think it might be intended for us." Eve said, "We _are_ taking the guild graduation exam."

Both bears looked surprised but nodded.

"Hm, okay. I guess this _is_ meant for you. Go ahead." Ursaring stepped aside and gestured at the small, golden-yellow box.

"You want to do the honors, Alex?" Eve asked, glancing at him.

"Why not."

_Besides, if it is a trap… I think I'll be able to see if it is. _He thought privately.

He approached, then set a paw on top of the box and immediately felt the familiar case of vertigo.

_Here we go…_

A flash.

He saw the same clearing they were in, only it had nothing there… Wigglytuff walked up, looking around carefully.

He then stepped forward and set the box down on the ground in the position it was presently in. The guildmaster then glanced around once more, before running off.

The vision ended and Alex didn't require any time to really recover.

_Alright… Wigglytuff put this here…so…_

He gripped the latch on the box and flipped the box lid open.

Inside, a Perfect Apple sat. A tight fit but not too big for its container.

Alex couldn't help smirking.

_Wigglytuff… go figure._

He lifted the apple out of the box and showed it to Eve. She blinked and then giggled as she also easily realized who set the box there.

"I guess we'll be taking this back to the guild." Alex said with a shrug and put the apple away in their bag.

Then there was a flash of light behind him.

They all turned and looked in the direction of the light.

Up ahead, was a pool of shallow water.

Another flash and suddenly, there was a column of gentle light shining down on the center of the water.

"Hey! The light's returned to Luminous Spring!" Teddiursa said excitedly.

They all approached the spring, staring at the light.

"Wait… does this mean-?" Eve started.

"Yes! It means we can evolve if we want!" Teddiursa still sounded ecstatic.

"Teddiursa has been wanting to evolve for quite some time now." Ursaring explained with an amused grin.

Team Long Ears didn't really know how the Spring…worked so they allowed Teddiursa to go first and show them. The small bear ran right out onto the shallow water and stepped into the center of the light. A soft, mysterious voice spoke from somewhere:

"_Do you seek evolution?_"

"Yep!" Teddiursa had been dancing in place in her excitement and now she was trying to hold still.

"_Do you require an item for evolution?_"

"Nope. No item." The bear said, still smiling and jittering with excitement.

"_Then let us begin…_"

The column of light shining on Teddiursa seemed to get brighter and harsher. After a moment, Teddiursa herself started to glow. The small bear's shape grew and shifted. There was final flash…

Everything had gone back to how it had been. But now, they were looking at another ursaring.

"Woo-hoo! I'm Ursaring now!" The former Teddiursa cheered and stepped out of the light.

"Congratulations." The old Ursaring said and they looked at each other and he gave a nervous chuckle "Now it's kinda hard to tell us apart…"

"Well, congrats for the evolution though." Eve said pleasantly.

Alex took out the Thunder Stone they had… found in the forest (he didn't really want to think of himself by the proper term). Eve noticed him looking at it.

"You want to evolve Alex? It certainly doesn't look like it would hurt." Eve ended with a friendly laugh.

Alex looked at the stone, feeling it in his paw… like he was weighing it.

_What have I got to lose? Nothing… it would sort of be accepting my non-human form…_

"Alright… I think I will…" Alex said finally and stepped forward.

He walked into the light and turned to face the others. Eve stepped in front of the two ursarings to watch.

"_Do you seek evolution?_"

"Yes." Alex responded, looking up at the light.

"_Do you require an item for evolution?_"

"I've got it right here." Alex said holding up the Thunder Stone.

The voice was silent a moment, apparently analyzing if it was the proper item.

"_Very well. Let us begin…_"

Alex closed his eyes, waiting for the change to commence…

Several moments passed…

Nothing happened.

"_No… evolution is not possible…_" the voice said, sounding a little surprised and Alex blinked, confused.

"What?" he yelled, "What's wrong? Isn't this the right item?"

"_No, it is not a problem of requirements…_"

"Then what is it?" Alex said, starting to become enraged. He'd been expecting to be able to evolve and here he was, apparently with the right item… but unable to do it.

"_It… has something to do with the distortion of space._"

Alex's frustration was promptly replaced with confusion and his wondering what that meant.

"_You… distort the space around you. It has made evolution impossible._"

Alex managed to understand… and his ears drooped in disappointment.

"_There is also one other like you… before you…_"

Alex looked at Eve… directly in front of him and she looked shocked as well as she realized what the voice was saying.

"Eve too?" Alex said, his voice dead with disappointment and shock.

"_My apologies... If anyone else seeks evolution… return here. Farewell._"

The light then faded, leaving them bemused and thoroughly downcast.

o0o

The four of them returned to town, both Ursarings sharing their condolences about the team's inability to evolve even if they had the proper items.

Alex and his partner shrugged off their disappointment though and, bidding their companions a friendly farewell, they headed back up to the guild.

Everyone was waiting.

Alex pulled out the Perfect Apple they had gotten from the box and Wigglytuff was overjoyed to receive it.

"Congratulations!" Chatot said amidst the other apprentices cheering and whooping in celebration "You two have officially graduated from Wigglytuff's Guild!"

Team Long Ears though… stood in the middle… looking awkward and as if they didn't understand what all the cheering was about. Chatot blinked.

"What's wrong?"

Alex scratched his head, trying to think of how to say what he'd like to say.

"I guess it just hasn't sunk in yet…" Eve said slowly and uneasily.

"But this is a time to celebrate!" Wigglytuff said cheerfully "After all, this must mean you beat the Grandmaster of All Things Bad and gotten to Luminous Spring!" he said, pointing out the apple.

"Yeah… about that…" Alex said, his tone serious "That Grandmaster… wasn't that… _you_?" he said, pointing to the guildmaster.

Wigglytuff looked genuinely confused. Everyone else glanced at each other, looking nervous.

The guildmaster blinked and then started juggling the Perfect Apple around as he spoke:

"Grandmaster? Who is that?" he said quite suddenly.

Chatot clearly caught on.

"And the Grandmaster's minons? I don't know anything about _them_."

Alex wasn't fooled and Eve looked sour but neither of them could see how to get everyone to confess as the guild laughed about their expressions.

"Oh, please…" Alex grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"What's the big deal about graduating anyways?" Eve said.

"Well, for starters, you finally get off that tiresome training program!" Chatot said, smiling brightly.

"You get to move out of the Guild. You can make your own base of operations!" Sunflora pointed out.

"You can explore wherever you want, hey hey!" Corphish chipped in.

"And we get to keep all of the reward money from jobs?" Eve asked, her voice bright with hope.

"Er… no…" Chatot said, somewhat guiltily "You're still affiliated with the guild, so the guild still takes most of the money rewarded." Chatot said somewhat apologetically.

"Awwww… what's the use…" Eve moaned.

"Oh c'mon! Graduation is great!" Sunflora said, half-screaming with excitement.

"IT shows how AWESOME the two of you ARE!" Loudred roared happily.

Alex sighed and couldn't help smiling as the words of encouragement continued. Eve noticed and she managed to cheer up as well.

Soon, they were all celebrating.

By the end of the day, they were spending their final night of sleeping at the guild.

o0o

The next day, everyone saw them off as they moved out of the guild.

"Come and visit ANYTIME!" Loudred called after them.

"Don't worry, I think we'll be visiting all the time!" Alex called back.

The team soon arrived at the crossroads.

"I think I know where we can set up home." Eve said with a smile and led Alex into Treasure Town.

o0o

They passed through town and arrived at the Bluff. They then went into the cave and set up the beds and did just a little decorating around the cave. They then stood in the center of the cave to look at their handiwork.

"I hereby declare this to Team Long Ears's base of operations!" Eve said cheerily.

Alex tossed a bit the straw used for bedding into the air, treating it like confetti.

"Let's do our best as always. Right, Eve?"

"Right!" And they shared a high-five.

###

_**The next several chapters are going to be about the various side-adventures the team goes on. I'll be interspersing the primary story-line in with it though.**_


	41. Icy Tales & Adventures

_**Sorry about the long delay between my chapters. I've had a lot of other things to occupy my time so I've been sort of taking a break from this I suppose. A lot of what appears in this particular chapter is my own ideas by the way.**_

_**So here's the next chapter. I wonder if I ought to note a bit of heroXpartner shipping in this fan-fict? Nothing that serious, mind you but still...**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 40: Icy Tales & Adventures

With their graduation from the guild, Team Long Ears found they had a lot more freedom of choice concerning their daily activities.

As Corphish had told them, they could explore where they wanted. They could also take jobs from the guild's job boards whenever they wished, and were quite well known to the pokemon around town.

Their first day into town after graduation was filled with congratulations to them for their accomplishment.

A fairly new face also greeted them:

"Hello, the name's Mr. Mime."

Alex raised an eyebrow upon hearing the name but thought better of asking about it.

Mr. Mime was humanoid in shape (like other humanoid pokemon, there wouldn't be any confusing him with an actual human). He had a head and body that were primarily white; rather bony, pink arms and legs that ended with glove-like hands and jester-like feet respectively. Mr. Mime's face looked as though it was decorated with make-up.

If Alex hadn't known better, he would've sworn he was looking at a clown.

"I heard the two of you recently graduated from the guide. Congratulations." Mr. Mime said pleasantly. They had already heard the same statement four or five times and just accepted this one with a polite thank you and a nod.

"Say, I have either of you heard of Blizzard Island?" the mime pokemon asked.

Curious, they answered "no" and asked about it.

"Hard dungeon. That's Blizzard Island. It's far to the southwest, out at sea. I hear a legendary explorer went there once. No one's heard from him since though."

"Oh? Do you know that explorer's name?" Eve said.  
>"I do believe he was the legendary explorer Scizor. He found all sorts of discoveries. Blizzard Island was the last place anyone heard about him going to and then he just vanished. That was years ago though…"<br>Alex and his partner exchanged looks, starting to wonder about what had happened as well.

"After what happened to him, I don't think I could advise the two of you to even try that place. Too dangerous, and you're just starting off."

_I don't know about that…_ Alex thought… he had considering saying that aloud but didn't want to end up in some kind of argument with Mr. Mime so he just shrugged it off.

"Blizzard Island, hm?" Eve murmured as they walked on through town, Mr. Mime waving a polite good-bye as they passed.

o0o

Alex and Eve spent that first day as an offical, graduated team, doing a series of jobs in one dungeon.

The pikachu though… found himself feeling a touch bored after fighting through the dungeon and finishing all the tasks at hand.

_Perhaps, I'm just too strong for anything in these familiar dungeons?_

After work was over, they decided to pay a visit to the beach to relax a bit. There was still a good deal of daylight left to them.

Blizzard Island rose to the forefront of his mind while they sat on the sand.

"Y'know… I'm kinda curious about Blizzard Island, Eve." Alex commented.

Eve looked up from drawing shapes in the sand to listen. She frowned and shivered as she thought about it.

"I hope it's not as cold there as it sounds…"

"It probably is though…"

_And it's somewhere we haven't been yet either…_ He spent a minute thinking about it.

"Actually, I think I'd like to try exploring Blizzard Island." Alex finally said. Eve looked a bit surprised at first but considered his idea.

"Well, how are we supposed to cross the sea?" Eve asked with a small giggle as Alex's expression dropped with the realization of the problem.

"You need a way to cross the sea?" a familiar voice said.

They were both startled but happy to see Lapras coming up to the shore. The team immediately got up and greeted their friend. Lapras had been watching the coastline and had come up, thinking they might wish to go to the Hidden Land.

"So you want to go Blizzard Island?" Lapras asked, confirming what they wanted.

"You can take us there?" Alex asked.

"I know where it is so it's not a problem." Lapras said with a kind smile. Apparently, as long as she knew where the destination was, Lapras had no problem giving them aquatic transportation there.

They climbed on board Lapras and they were off.

o0o

The journey there took the rest of the day and into the next.

During the night, while lying across the shell they were riding on, Alex's thoughts wandered to the revelation they had had at Luminous Spring.

_So we distort space? I think I can understand why I distort it._

He had no proof, but he was certain that Dialga had decided to "un-erase" him from history and return him to this time. Though the reasons for doing that… he could only guess.

_It makes sense… since I don't belong in time anymore, there must be spatial distortion involved in my case._

_But what about Eve?_

He wasn't so sure about why she distorted space.

_Maybe going through time and having visited the past?_ He guessed mentally.

_She hasn't forgotten me apparently and never did while I was gone. I suppose it might just be her memories that are making her distort space._

Alex felt like he was confusing himself though and discarded the thoughts. He soon dropped off to sleep.

o0o

Alex woke up early due to feeling very chilly. It was actually snowing now. Eve was shivering in her sleep and she had been pressing up to him, unconsciously looking for warmth in her slumber. As always, being in such close contact with Eve made Alex feel a little odd… though unlike when she had hugged him in the past, he didn't feel so much embarrassed in this case as just a little self-conscious.

"We're almost there…" Lapras said, noticing him awaken.

Hearing this, he gently woke Eve up, who blinked sleepily and then quickly realized just how chilly she was feeling.

"Whew… it's cold…" she said, shivering more visibly, making some of the snow in her fur come loose and flutter into the air.

"At least you have all that fur…" Alex said, rubbing his arms to make a bit of heat "I don't have nearly so much protection from the cold."

Alex managed to get over his self-consciousness enough to huddle in close to Eve to keep warm as they got closer to Blizzard Island, which was now quite visible.

o0o

After disembarking onto the island, Lapras told them she would keep watch over the island and look for their return.

The team then marched on into the snowy landscape before them.

Blizzard Island, Alex decided, was well named. He found it hard to think of a time while they were there where it wasn't snowing or hailing.

Like all mystery dungeons they had explored previously, the pokemon residents of the island didn't seem to take kindly to their passing through.

"I thought we fixed time and that got pokemon to stop acting so aggressively." Alex said as they took down a delibird (a white bird-pokemon that seemed to be always carrying a red bag).

"Disasters still happen on occasion Alex." Eve explained "That and other smaller disturbances. Sure, the world's no longer in danger, but that doesn't mean there's still not trouble somewhere in the world."

They pressed onwards, taking out snorunt, piplup, and castform (among various other pokemon species) as they went.

Perhaps the biggest hazard they encountered on Blizzard Island was the piloswine. Piloswine were clearly pigs, from just a glance. They had great masses of brown hair and, in a way, they looked like a big pile of that hair, stacked atop a pig's snout and tusks. Nothing else of a piloswine's body was visible under all that hair.  
>The hazard about the piloswine, was that they were clearly ground-type. They never so much as flinched whenever Alex attempted to shock one. They would then counter-attack by either blowing a great gust of ice-filled air, or throw a mass of mud and dirt at the explorers. Both attacks hurt, and Alex usually had to look to Eve for assistance with taking any piloswine out.<p>

Alex soon found that keeping warm wasn't nearly as much of an issue as he had feared. They battled with island residents with decent frequency and the exertion and physical action helped work up warmth in both of them, whether it was unleashing electricity, or smacking/pounding an opponent over the head. Eve didn't complain of the cold, though Alex noted to himself that she naturally had a fur coat so she wasn't as prone to chilliness.

They even found some time as they traveled to admire the mostly white, though bleak, landscape on the rare occasion that the skies cleared and they could see further.

"The snow really is beautiful." Eve commented at one point as they took a moment to rest. As always, they were alert for wandering island-residents while they rested.

Alex couldn't help noticing the snow collected on Eve's fur again… and how rather pretty it made her look in the light. Most of it had just fallen off in their travels, but bits of frost were still clinging to her fur and, in the sunlight, the bits of snow glinted like glitter. She noticed him staring though and glanced at what he was staring at. She burst out in a light fit of giggles as she realized the object of his attention.

Quickly realizing he was being rather obvious, Alex averted his eyes, feeling a bit of warmth flood his face.

"C'mon, let's get moving again." He said, a bit hastily. Eve just gave him a warm smile and agreed.

o0o

Alex was starting to wonder if they were getting lost on the snowy island when they came across something quite impressive and vast:

They came up to a massive wall of solid ice… with a grand, crack-like hole in the center that lead into what was clearly a cave.

"Wow… I wonder where this leads…" Eve murmured, looking around.

"I don't know. We'll just have to find out. But that's our job, now isn't it?" he said with a light chuckle.

"Yep." They grinned at each other and took the opportunity to get some rest there at the entrance.

Conveniently enough, there was a Kangaskhan statue nearby. Alex restocked their supplies after they were finished resting and they headed into the cave.


	42. Cold Crush

_**There are a few different things I'm changing from the game here. For starters, normally in the game, Scizor gives the team a "secret rank". In this case, I'm skipping that completely in exchange for... something else. You'll find out what later on. ;)**_

_**The rest of the changes are minor things.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 41: Cold Crush

The inside of the cave proved to be even colder than outside on the island.

_And I thought it was cold here before…_

Alex could feel the heat fleeing from him as they entered.

The residents of the cave were even more widely varied than the pokemon outside.

Rather than piplup, they were running across the evolved forms of piplup. The other residents ranged from jinx (another human-shaped pokemon with long golden hair), and sneasel (an ice/dark type with sharp claws) to massive, mamoswine (which resembled mammoths, complete with huge tusks) and even swablu (small blue birds with wings made of cotton) the latter of which seemed out of place.

The trip down into the cave just continued to get colder and getting attacked with ice- and water-type attacks didn't help.

"When was it I said dealing with a nice fire-type would be good?" Alex chattered, shivering uncontrollably.

"I think that was back when we were going through Craggy Coast." Eve was enduring the cold marginally better than her partner was. Again, Alex found himself somewhat envying her fur coat that gave her better protection from the cold.

Then they came across a monster house and Alex was grateful for the physical exertion. The residents of the cave didn't seem to want to fight as much as when they had been outside so the team had been doing more walking than fighting in the cave, which led to them experiencing the cold more than before.

Empoleon, which were tall penguins with metal edging their limbs and a trident-shaped crest upon their heads, were predominant in the group of hostile pokemon.

Alex discharged violently (Eve "hit the deck"); his own electricity generated enough heat that Alex experienced some relief from the cold. Half of the enemies they had to face went down under the electric blast.

Most of the remaining were Piloswine and Mamoswine, both of which were ground-types (being of the same evolution).

Eve brandished a wonder orb and smashed it to activate it. It generated a bizarre tune that emitted an even stranger series of waves. All their opponents blinked and swayed, their eyes becoming unfocused.

"Totter orb, right?" Alex guessed. All of the hostile pokemon were now in a severe state of confusion and started to traipse about awkwardly. When one got close, it attempted to strike at Alex, only to swing extremely wide of its mark and smacked another, who also swung and hit thin air. It was a silly sight to see and Alex shook his head, resisting the temptation to laugh.

Instead, he lashed out at one while Eve bit another. Both opponents went down and they both made their way to more confused cave residents to take them down while the confusion lasted.

The confusion went away but by the time it did, Team Long Ears didn't have many opponents left.

They mopped up the remaining enemies. By this point, Alex was feeling a bit warmer but the heat worked up by the battle was already going away.

"Oh man… Let's find our way to the bottom." Alex groaned, going back to rubbing his arms for warmth, "I'm hoping to find somewhere that's a bit warmer there by some chance."

Eve nodded, though she wasn't shivering.

o0o

As it turned out, most of the cave residents actually weren't hostile. Some were hiding away and keeping to themselves. At one point, Alex thought he saw a pokemon that they hadn't fought once yet on the way down. Eve blinked as she noticed and a bright smile appeared on her face but then the pokemon vanished. He hadn't gotten a good look at the docile resident.

"Okay… so I wasn't seeing that?" Alex asked, staring at where the pokemon had been. Eve seemed a bit excited and was looking around the area for something. Unable to figure out what, he decided to get a move on before he froze in place waiting for Eve.

"What were you looking for anyways?" Alex said as he marched them forward, trying to work up heat as he moved. Eve's mood had dipped slightly when he had forced them onwards but she quickly recovered from whatever disappointment she had been experiencing.

"Oh… nothing…" she said pleasantly. She wasn't fooling anyone though; Alex knew she was looking for _some_thing… he just didn't know what.

o0o

Perhaps an hour of exploration later, Alex and his partner stepped into a wide chamber that appeared to be mostly empty. In the back of the room was a large block of purest ice.

The two explorers agreed with each other to get a closer look and approached the ice block.

Then a snowstorm suddenly kicked up, turning their vision pure white for a moment.

When the brief white-off subsided, there was a pokemon before them.

"Well, hello there…"

From just a look, Alex could tell this pokemon was a ghost-type. She hovered off the ground.

Her body was white with icy-blue edges and what looked like a wide, red ribbon tied about her mid-section. This gave her body the appearance of a dress of sorts made of snow and ice.

Her head was round and seemed to have an odd mask-like shell of ice on top of it with what was apparently two arms hanging from either side of it. The shell had ice crystals sticking up from it and the shell went over her eyes but there were eyeholes so she could see out. If the limbs hadn't moved like arms, he'd have thought they were just icy hangings from her head. The ghost's face was mainly purple with serene eyes. The appearance had a rather beautiful and elegant effect.

"I don't get too many visitors…" she commented, giving them a polite smile.

"And you are?" Alex said, his teeth tight to prevent chattering as he attempted to keep warm. He could see Eve next to him was uneasy.

"Froslass." She responded and then giggled "You certainly are cute." She said to Alex, who blinked as the unexpected-ness of the comment caught him off-guard.

"Come closer… I like you…" Froslass said, one arm raised so it covered her mouth giving her a thoughtful look.

Alex was tempted to do so almost purely from her voice. She sounded so kind and it seemed like he wasn't feeling cold anymore. Eve grabbed his arm though and held him back and huddled close to him to warm him up. This woke Alex up out of his daze and he realized that he was actually developing ice on his fur. Eve's proximity and a bit more rubbing for heat started fixing that problem.

Froslass looked a little disappointed.

"Aw… come closer dear… you must be freezing…" she said in a sympathetic tone.

Alex resisted the temptation this time and kept himself in place.

"Come closer…" Froslass repeated still smiling, but suddenly sounding a lot more sinister "So that I may freeze you to the bone."

"I prefer a warmer reception." Alex responded (the pun was intended) as Froslass started to advance on them, an unfriendly gleam in her calm eyes now.

Eve stepped away from him so he could start using his electricity without shocking her.

For him, using his electricity felt like a relief as the flowing electricity again generated heat.

Froslass spread those arms wide and exhaled a gentle breeze. This would've been fine… if the air weren't loaded with ice and snow. Team Long Ears defended themselves from the offensive and Alex retaliated with an electrical discharge. The ghost-type winced as the attack hit and came closer to Alex.

"That's close enough." Alex said defiantly and shocked Froslass again. Eve meanwhile, attempted to tackle her but she somewhat phased through Froslass, which did little but annoy their opponent.

Froslass spread her arms again and generated a small swarm of ice crystals that flew at Alex. He shielded his face from the assault and pulled out an oran berry to eat.

"You stay away from him!" Eve yelled at Froslass and bit the ghost. This had considerably greater effect than the tackle.

Froslass shrieked in pain and surprise and rounded on Alex's partner.

"You dare harm a lady?" Froslass cried indignantly and Eve had to move quickly to avoid Froslass's attempts to slap her silly.

"You're no lady." Alex said simply and blasted Froslass with electricity again.

Froslass seemed to stagger in the air and then Eve bit her again.

The ghost then screamed and things quickly whited out with snow. When the snow died down again, she was gone.

He wondered if it was just his imagination, but Alex felt sure that the room was suddenly at least five degrees warmer. It was still cold, but it felt so much more tolerable.

The twosome exchanged glances and smiled in silent congratulations to each other.

Then there was a loud crack!

They both looked in the direction of the noise in alarm and saw the large ice crystal in the back had developed a large fracture. The fracture quickly grew until the crystal was covered. The ice then shattered.

A single pokemon was standing where the ice had been, clearly having been frozen solid.

This pokemon was primarily red and from the fact that their body was clearly divided into three segments, Alex had a shrewd guess he was a bug-type. The bug-type's head had a three-point crest and he had claws rather than hands which had eye-like designs on them. The thawed pokemon swayed and Team Long Ears hastily moved and caught him/her before they hit the ground.

The bug-type groaned, waking up.

"Are you Scizor?" Alex grunted. The recently thawed pokemon was heavy… it didn't help he was fairly bigger than both of them. Alex also guessed from this and the texture of his skin that he was steel-type as well.

"Y-yes…" Scizor responded. His voice was a bit of a rasp, probably from being frozen for so long.

"F-Frozen… by…"

"Yeah… Froslass. I think that's fairly obvious now." Alex said, struggling to try and get Scizor on his feet.

The lost explorer managed to get himself off of them and, in trying to stand up, he instead fell over backwards and ended up sitting down hard on the ground.

He grunted from the discomfort of the landing and one of his claw-hands dropped something.

Eve wasn't paying attention but Alex noticed it and picked it up. It appeared to be a simple rock, covered in ice. Alex wasn't sure why, but it seemed different. He quietly put it away and pulled out an apple, which he offered to Scizor.

The bug-type accepted it gratefully and after he had recovered enough strength to walk, the three of them headed out of the cave.

o0o

Scizor explained as they traveled back across the island about how he'd come exploring Blizzard Island and how Froslass had beguiled him. She apparently had felt some affection for him or something and when he fell for her charms, she had frozen him into that ice crystal and kept him there like some trophy. Alex felt a little uneasy thinking about how Froslass had shown some affection for him as well. He didn't want to imagine how it would've been to get frozen solid like that.

As they arrived at the edge of the island, Scizor began to wonder how the team had gotten there. On the way, the old explorer had explained that he had flown here himself with the rather small-looking set of wings on his back. Alex wasn't sure how this was possible but he answered Scizor's question by pointing out Lapras, who arose from the water. The explorer looked impressed with their companion and rode with them, being too tired and out-of-shape from being frozen solid to fly at the time.

o0o

About a day later, they were back at Treasure Town and Alex found himself feeling grateful to be warm again.

"Thank you again for rescuing me from that icy prison." Scizor said, bowing his head and then he looked around, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly with one of his claws.

"However… it seems I've been gone so long… I'm now in a new world with not even a single poke to my name…"

Eve was willing to offer him an amount of money to get his life back on track but he turned the offer down. Alex personally felt the explorer was being a bit too selfless for his own good.

"I will not take from the explorers who rescued me. I do wish I could give you something to reward you but… well, as you can see… I have nothing." Scizor said very apologetically, "I will simply have to start from scratch. I bid you adieu." He said and started to head out.

Alex watched for a moment and then, briefly asking Eve to wait there, quickly chased him down.

"Scizor… when you woke up on that island, you dropped this." Alex said pulling out the rock, which was still covered in ice.

"Hmmm… I don't remember picking that up…" Scizor said, looking at the rock curiously "That ice-demoness must have put it my hand or something because I do not think I would've picked up such a plain looking stone."

"I don't think it's merely a stone." Alex said.

"If you wish to keep it, be my guest. I owe both of you, Team Long Ears, my very life. Anything I can give you, I will gladly allow you to keep." Scizor insisted his tone still full of gratitude.

Alex nodded and allowed Scizor to go on his way.

o0o

Alex spent the evening examining the rock. Eve had gone to sleep early.

_This can't be just a normal stone._ Alex was sure of that.

He had had it throughout all this time… and the entire time, there had been no sign of the stone's ice melting away even under the sun's heat. It still felt chilly in his paws… a faint echo of the island's coldness.

He dozed off without noticing after a while of examining it.


	43. Undersea Adventure

_**About that rock: don't overthink it.**_

_**Anyhow, this chapter is certainly going to be different and a bit more complicated than the game makes the adventure. With Surrounded Sea, the game just ignores the fact the characters are underwater. I'm not so simple.**_

_**There are a few things here I am going to admit aren't very realistic but bear with me: I did the best I could think to do.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 42: Undersea Adventure

Alex was watching a wave of colors flux, bend and shift before his eyes.

It was pretty in a way and made no sense whatsoever in the real world so, being oddly conscious in this strange environment, Alex quickly figured out he was still asleep and this was merely a dream. Although if he was honest with himself, he found it a little boring.

He felt something enter in his mind.

"_Who's there?"_ he thought sleepily, the thought echoing in the dream aloud.

A pokemon he had never seen before appeared, directly before him.

Whoever it was, Alex was pretty sure from looks that this was… female.

The pokemon in question hovered in the air, as it had no legs. It's body was sleek, the upper half of the body a gentle pink and the underbelly a yellow color and had pink-purple crescent-shaped… things that might've been natural blades at its sides. The way they met in front of it, they could've also been arms but Alex couldn't see how that worked. It also had another crescent (it shifted in color shades of pink and purple) arcing over its back and the neck was of decent length. Alex could almost compare the body shape to Lapras, only considerably smaller. This pokemon was about half Lapra's size though still bigger than Alex was.

Oddest of all, Alex noticed how the pokemon seemed to radiate a strange light. It wasn't so bright though that he couldn't look at her.

He looked directly at the pokemon's face. Her head had an odd shape to it and looked as if she was wearing some sort of yellow hat or helmet that went over the sides of her head. Viewed from the sides, this "hat" looked like a crescent moon. The rest of her head pointed outwards like an arrow and had small, rather beady eyes that glinted with the same light she radiated.

"You… I've been looking for you…" she said in unfriendly tones. Considering she had no mouth that could be seen, Alex figured this pokemon must be psychic-type.

"_Looking for me? Who are you?"_

"I am Cresselia. You and your partner are bringing the world to ruin."

Alex stirred in his sleep.

"_What? How are we doing that?"_ his thought came as a yell.

Cresselia seemed distracted though and annoyed. She looked around and then gave Alex a harsh glare.

"I will return." She said abruptly and vanished.

"_Wait! What do you… mean…?"_ Alex trailed off as he realized he was alone in his dream again, his thoughts heard by no one save himself.

o0o

Alex woke up the next morning, his head feeling odd.

_Probably would help if I didn't have strange dreams like that._

He decided to just put aside what he'd dreamt.

_It was just a dream after all, right?_

Alex put away the ice-covered stone that was lying by his bed (the same he had dozed off inspecting) and got up, stretching and getting ready for the day as his partner also got up, yawning.

They headed into town and repacked their treasure bag at the storage shop (they were a very high-ranking team by this point and were allowed a lot of space).

Mr. Mime addressed them as they went about their business. The mime pokemon was astonished at the news he had received about Scizor.

Alex couldn't help feeling a little smug after considering how Mr. Mime had suggested Blizzard Island would be too hard for them.

Mr. Mime nonetheless congratulated them on a job well done, leaving Alex (and likely Eve) with a good sense of pride in themselves.

o0o

When they got back to the guide from another day of doing jobs, they received their rewards from their clients and then noticed a very frenzied Sunflora making a lot of noise.

"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh!" she was yipping repeatedly and excitedly.

Alex noticed Corphish was watching this, shaking his head, his eyes rolling in disbelief. Figuring he knew something about this behavior, Alex went over to him with Eve following.

"Hey Corphish, what's with Sunflora?"

"Oh hi, Team Long Ears, hey hey. Sunflora recently heard about some new dungeon or something-or-other being discovered and she's gone hyper over it. She so excited though that when I try talking to her I don't really catch what she's saying. But if you're interested in finding out, hey hey, then be my guest and talk to her. She's just _itching_ to gab about it."

The two exchanged glances and they agreed to go talk to Sunflora.

Approaching Sunflora in her agitated state seemed like a mildly intimidating task but they managed to get Sunflora's attention (what little of it they could).

"Hey Sunflora." Eve said pleasantly "What's this about a new dungeon?"

"_Ohmygosh!_" Sunflora half-screamed, making both of them jump "It's _so awesome_! The Surrounded Sea has appeared!" she said at high speed and then flew into a frenzy, yelling out more "Ohmygosh's". When she finally calmed down a bit, she continued as fast as before though she was still waving her leaf-hands around wildly.

"It's a dungeon that hasn't been seen in _so! Long!_ It's so old there _must_ be legendary treasure waiting at the bottom!" she screamed at the end and shot back into a frenzy of crying out "Ohmygosh" again.

Alex choked down a laugh. He'd never seen Sunflora like this and he frankly found her to be funny for obvious reasons.

"So, do you plan on trying to go there yourself?" Eve asked.

"Me?" Sunflora abruptly stopped as if she had been caught doing something embarrassing.

"Ohmygosh, no! It'd be too hard! But if you want to explore it for yourself, here! Let me point it out on your map!"

Alex pulled out the map and Sunflora jabbed the point where this new dungeon supposedly was and then flew into her frenzy yet again.

Alex stifled another chuckle and they decided to leave her alone so she could vent to herself.

As they stepped away from the hyperactive grass-type, Corphish called to them.

"So, how was it?"

"I think I get what she was saying…" Alex said, still slightly shaking with laughter. He managed to stop giggling to himself as he relayed the information to Corphish.

"Oh." he nodded as he listened "Oh yeah, hey hey. Coming from you, it makes a lot more sense. That does sound like an interesting dungeon. I think the two of you could take the challenge hey hey. You ought to try it."

"We've even got a way to get out there to sea, don't we Eve?" Alex said with a grin.

o0o

Indeed, as the name implied, Surrounded Sea was out in the middle of the ocean, similar to Blizzard Island. The Surrounded Sea was more directly to the south of town and wasn't quite as far.

Lapras did not object to taking them there. Team Long Ears took some time to get ready and then took off aboard Lapras. No dreams came to Alex in the night.

o0o

The next day, Lapras had stopped near a small cave that was the only thing present on a single, large rock sticking up out of the ocean. There were other smaller rocks sticking up around it which was how the location got the other half of its name: the surrounding rocks.

"I would imagine this dungeon arose from the water because of the incident with time." Lapras commented as they woke up "I would suggest both of you use caution. Not all of the water-types down there will be vulnerable to electricity." She said, clearly referring to Alex.

This made Alex a bit curious what waited below but they nodded and disembarked directly into the cave.

o0o

Seawater was a constant in the cave. This made using electricity a bit more risky for Alex as it would easily flow through the salt water (making it a danger to his partner)

There were plenty of water-types, as could be expected of the location. The team of explorers frequently had to dive into pools of deeper water and resurface elsewhere. It was usually when they went under like this that they encountered hostile residents. Alex also found it easier than expected to direct his electrical attacks despite the water.

_Maybe it's just me._ He thought as they proceeded.

One of the most common residents was the jellyfish tentacool. These weren't too much trouble. Nor were finneon, which were the most fish-like pokemon Alex had seen yet (distinctive for their butterfly-wing tails).

The most trouble came when they encounter Kingdra (large, scaled sea horses with a protruding nose of sorts), which were thankfully, fairly rare. Kingdra were dragon-type as well as water-type, which nulled any vulnerability to electric attacks and they possessed formidable water attacks as Alex discovered. One lashed at him with a blast of very salty water and it stung worse than getting stabbed by beedrill. The only reason any Kingdra they came across went down quickly was because of Alex and Eve's teamwork. Their joint attacks usually took the sea horse down quickly.

Another problem as they went down deeper were the octopus pokemon there, called octillery. These annoying water-types seemed to love attacking from a distance. Their signature move (as Eve pointed out) was firing a glob of black ink like a cannonball from their mouth.

Alex was splattered by this once and managed to keep any from getting in his eyes but he was still annoyed with getting dyed pitch black with the gunk.

He retaliated with a furious blast of electricity flung in all directions. Eve had to run away to avoid getting shocked in the water. The octillery and a few other water-types which floated up from underwater were all KOed by the electric blast.

Eve rejoined him a bit later.

"A little warning before you go doing that again, please. I can't just duck and cover as usual here y'know…" she said a bit shaken since she had had to act fast.

"Sorry… but I've kinda gotten to _like_ my coloration. Black is _not it_." Alex said testily as he attempted to wash off the ink in the water. To his relief, the ink was still fresh enough to wash out of his fur and he came up from the water, back to his usual yellow color.

They came to another diving point.

"This looks like it's going to be a longer dive than the previous ones. Better take a deep breath." Alex said and Eve nodded. They inhaled deep and dove in.

Quilfish, which were basically puffer-fish pokemon, greeted them with attacks on the way down. Alex shocked one and Eve managed to quickly bite another, avoiding its spines. The rest attempted to shoot their needles but the team evaded these attacks and mopped up the remaining quilfish.

They went up and surfaced in an air pocket. They got a quick breath of air and dove again continuing on their way.

Alex thought he saw something swim by but he considered the possibility he had just been seeing things. Besides that, the figure he had seen had to be massive anyways so he hoped not to have a run in with it.

They dealt with a few hostile starmie (which were starfish pokemon with a total of ten limbs and a bright red gem in the center). The ones that weren't hostile just stayed planted on the rock walls and illuminated the underwater cave with their gems, shining a beautiful red.

They gasped for air in another air pocket and then dove again.

_I hope this is the final stretch._ Alex thought desperately. His arms were getting tired from swimming and he needed to spend some time standing on solid ground to rest.

Another octillery was clamped to the rocks and fired a white blast from its mouth that left ice crystals in the water.

Alex managed to barely evade the attack and shocked the octillery. It reached out with one tentacle and attempted to wrap itself around Alex.

Wondering if it intended to eat him or something, Alex electrified himself, shocking the octopus again and it's grip loosened as it fainted.

They saw what looked like another place to surface overhead and Eve even swam under him and pushed him up with her head, helping him up.

Alex burst from the water, gasping for air once again and flopped out onto water-covered rock again. Eve burst from the water a moment later, also inhaling deep.

Then she yelped and went under again.

"Eve!" Alex yelled and ran back over to the water and dove in.

Eve was sinking down, trying to fight off the psychic attacks of an apparently sadistic slowking. The pink pokemon had a gray shell clamped over its head with a red and white frill around its neck.

Alex glared at it and unleashed an electrical shock at it.

Its psychic attack was disrupted and it turned its attention to Alex. However, Eve got her revenge on it right then and sank her teeth into its neck. The slowking was KOed out of the shock of getting bitten like that.

Then Eve tried to swim up but she apparently hadn't gotten a decent breath of air before her mind had been attacked and Alex could see her starting to sink again, fainting. He quickly grabbed her leg and heaved her upwards, dragging her up to safety.

They both emerged from the water, Eve coughing up seawater and gasping for air again. Alex crawled out of the deep water and laid on his back, thankful to be alive after that long stretch of swimming. His entire body was mildly sore from the extertion and fatigue.

"Thank you… Alex…" Eve panted, her entire body heaving.

"No… problem…" he said between puffs of air "Didn't I tell you? You're irreplaceable."

They looked at each other and found themselves laughing.

"Whew… that was close…" Alex groaned as they finally stopped and his flopped his head into the water with some relief.

Eve was looking at something though.

"Hey, Alex. What do you think that is?" she said, pointing to something a little ways ahead.

Alex turned over in the water and looked at what she was pointing at.

There was a dip in the rock floor that was, of course, filled with water. At the bottom of the dip, completely submerged in the water was…

"An egg?" Alex said, getting up with his partner and walking over to it.

The egg wasn't like any Alex had seen before. It appeared to be completely see-through. Alex was sure he wasn't seeing what was truly inside but it appeared to have a single red spot inside that glowed like a core. It looked a little like a misshapen crystal ball.

Alex bent down and gripped the egg, then carefully lifted it from the salt water.

He had half-expected it to melt or something upon removal but it remained whole in his paws as it was separated from the water. However, it became solidly opaque. Strangely, it still somehow retained the appearance of an ovoid crystal ball, complete with the glowing red core.

"Weird…" he commented, gazing at it in some wonder. It felt a little sticky in his paws as it was covered with a sort of goo and the shell was comparitively soft.

"I guess it's a mystery egg." Eve said with shrug.

"Do we take it?" Alex asked. They were both sure they had an egg, no doubt about that. Both knew that an egg would hatch…

"Why not," Eve said, "I'm curious about what will hatch from it anyways."

Alex wasn't so sure about doing it but his curiosity was also overwhelming him and he decided to go with his partner on this matter.

"Besides, there's a warp point back there." Eve said, pointing out a glowing circle further back in the cave. "So it won't be a problem to get back to the surface."

Alex approached the warp point as Eve had called it with some apprehension. He handled the egg in his paws carefully as he walked. One wrong step and he could easily drop it and/or accidentally break it in his hands. That would've been tragic.

"Just step into the circle and we'll be out of here." Eve said, giving him an encouraging smile.

Alex had dealt with these circles before and they had been traps then. Getting separated from Eve had always been troublesome.

On the other hand, the traps that warped them elsewhere were usually hidden from view. This "warp point" was in plain sight. He trusted Eve and stepped into the circle.

A flash of light later and he was at the entrance of the cave. Eve appeared next to him a moment later.

"See? No problem." She said cheerily.

Lapras was there, waiting for them.


	44. Manaphy

_**I tend to write these chapters all in a day, one chapter a day (sometimes two). And I generally post them in the same day too.**_

_**Anyways, a fun little chapter with a baby pokemon (one that grows fast).**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 43: Manaphy

Team Long Ears went back home in the Bluff once they were back to Treasure Town.

They deliberated about how to take care of the egg. In the end, they figured since nothing had been clearly guarding the egg or taking care of it, it would probably hatch without any additional assistance. All it would likely need was peace and quiet.

Thus, the two of them simply set up a third straw-bed and gently set the egg on it and left it to itself.

They spent the remainder of the evening gazing at the egg and chatting about it.

Night fell and both of them went to sleep.

In the night, Alex thought he felt something trying to enter his mind but though he didn't (and couldn't) do anything to stop it, it didn't enter whatever or whoever it was.

He wondered in his dream about Cresselia and if it was her coming and going like that. He found himself distracted by thoughts about what she had meant in that first meeting.

It was a grave accusation and wanted to know what it was about them that was supposedly causing disaster.

o0o

Alex woke up the next morning rested but his mind still thinking about his dream-bound visitor. Eve was already checking the egg, which was still sitting quietly on the bed they'd made for it.

"How long do you think it will be before it hatches?" she asked, continuing to gaze at it and admire the unique appearance.

Alex shrugged in response to her question.

"Who knows? It might be a few weeks or a few months… perhaps even-"

His words were interrupted by an abrupt jolt from the egg. They both froze, staring as the egg jiggled again.

"-A few minutes…" Alex ended, blinking.

The egg shook a bit more then it cracked and surprisingly, an amount of light streamed from it. Both of them shielded their eyes from the burst of light, which soon faded. Alex lowered his arm and saw the newborn. It wasn't like any pokemon he'd seen yet.

The newborn was almost entirely an aquatic blue though there was a red spot in the middle of its chest like some sort of gem. The pokemon had no legs but a small body with a pair of small, flipper-like arms. It's large head had yellow (almost golden) eyes with odd, circular designs over those eyes and what appeared to be a pair of long antenna that hung back in a large arc behind it. Alex almost immediately found the newborn quite adorable.

It looked around, apparently trying to figure out where it was and saw them, giving them a curious look.

"Hi there little guy." Eve said, charmed by the young pokemon's appearance.

It blinked, clearly wondering what Eve was saying.

"I guess since he just hatched he doesn't understand us, Alex." Eve said glancing at Alex.

_Makes sense. What kind of pokemon is this anyways?_

"Um, hi." He said, giving the newborn a little wave when it looked at him.

It watched his action and gave him a big smile, which only made it look cuter.

"H… hi…" it said, somewhat tripping on the simple word.

Alex couldn't hold back a small giggle. Just too cute.

"Well, I haven't ever seen a pokemon like this little fellow before," Eve said, the curious newborn echoing the word "pokemon" while she spoke, "Do you think Chatot might know something?" she asked.

"Only pokemon I can think of…" he shrugged and, gently coaxing the young pokemon to follow them, they headed for the guild.

Interestingly enough, the newborn had an odd ability to hover off the ground when it wanted to move (which led to Alex wondering if it was part-psychic type) and it followed them, bobbing along happily behind them.

o0o

They arrived at the guild, met with Chatot, explained their trip down into the Surrounded Sea cave, how they'd retrieved an egg therein, and how it had hatched the present morning to reveal their adorable new companion.

Chatot looked over the pokemon, who just returned his gaze, as curious as ever about its surroundings.

"Well? Any ideas, Chatot?" Alex said.

Chatot finished his visual observations, nodding.

"Hm… yes… I've never seen a pokemon like this one before but I do believe I know what he is." Chatot said, turning to them, "If I'm not mistaken this little fellow is called a manaphy."

Again, the young pokemon echoed the word it was hearing: "Mana-phy?".

"Manaphy are extremely rare," Chatot pointed out to the team, "and they are meant to grow up in the ocean. I suggest the two of you get this fellow back to the ocean as soon as possible. For his own good."

Chatot's tone was neither strict nor harsh… There was unmistakable concern in his voice.

Alex and his partner were about to respond when there was a sudden wail of crying, making both of them jump and Chatot looked a little startled as well.

The manaphy was loudly crying for no immediately apparent reason.

"W-What's wrong?" Eve stammered, trying to get over her surprise.

"I would imagine he's hungry." Chatot said with an understanding smile "He _did_ just hatch after all."

Seeing the young manaphy crying like this was a bit heart-rending to Alex. Seeing the adorable newborn so unhappy was saddening.

"So… what do manaphy eat?" he asked.

"Well, they are water-type so you might try a blue gummi. Water-types like those best."

Gummis were basically jellybeans that Alex and his partner had found on occasion as they had traveled through mystery dungeons (they had also seen them in Kecleon Market as well). They came in various colors and hues, each unique to the flavor. Alex had found he personally liked the yellow ones best (a sort of tingling sweetness, as he would've described it). The blue ones… he also liked but not quite as much.

"I think we've still got a few of those in storage, don't we Alex?" Eve said, a little uncertain.

Alex had stored a fair number of gummis of various colors over the weeks and he was pretty sure there was at least one blue one in storage.

"We'll go check." Alex told Chatot, who nodded and told them he'd keep an eye on the manaphy while they went.

o0o

They soon returned with a blue gummi in-hand.

Eve approached Manaphy with it.

"Hey there Manaphy… here's something to eat…" she said gently. The manaphy's crying slowed and he blinked in some confusion as he looked at what Eve was offering him. He took the gummi and stared at it, apparently wondering what to do with it.

"It's a gummi." Eve explained to the child and tried motioning for the newborn to eat.

"Goomi?" Manaphy echoed, slurring the word slightly and continuing to stare at the candy curiously.

"Go on…" Eve said and continued trying to indicate how to eat.

The manaphy finally brought the gummi up to its mouth and nibbled on it. His eyes brightened upon tasting it and he promptly swallowed the rest of it. Eve breathed a sigh of relief, now that the problem at hand had been handled.

The manaphy's mood immediately brightened again and excitedly repeated the name of the candy (still slurring it).

"Now then…" Chatot said "As I was saying, you should get this youngster back to the ocean as quickly as possible."

"But… but he's only a child, Chatot." Eve argued "We can't just leave him to fend for himself in the ocean alone! At least let him grow up a bit before we take him back." She said, her concern evident…

Chatot sighed, worry creasing his brow.

"As I said… manaphy are meant to grow up in the ocean… this environment is as different from the ocean as is possible to be…" he said… almost sadly "Are you sure about what you are doing?"

"Please Chatot." Eve said, pleadingly "Just a few days." Alex could see that Eve had gotten attached to the little guy. Admittedly, he also found himself unwilling to part ways with him so soon.

Chatot heaved another sigh; his concern still etched on his face.

"I do not like this… but if you wish… you may raise Manaphy for a little while. The consequences will be upon your shoulders though..." his tone was ominous, though still not harsh in any way.

Eve nodding, smiling warmly.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you Chatot."

Chatot did not return the smile, his concerns about this choice would not be erased.

"Alright Manaphy. You wanna come live with us for a little bit?" Eve said sweetly to Manaphy.

It seemed he was starting to understand more because Manaphy reacted to this with immense joy and started to dance through the air around Eve and then proceeded to do the same around Alex.

With that, they headed out of the guild and went back to the team's cave at the Bluff.

They spent the day playing around with Manaphy and enjoying the time with their newest friend.

o0o

Next day, Manaphy was already up when they awoke, greeting them with his smile. Eve said "Good morning" to both Alex and Manaphy and then focused on Manaphy.

"So, what do you want to do today, Manaphy?" Eve said cheerily. Alex found himself feeling like he was having fun just having Manaphy around.

"Goomi!" the water-type cried out excitedly. Alex chuckled in response.

"Sounds like he wants another blue gummi, Eve."

"Want to go get another one from storage?" Eve asked. Alex pulled out a blue gummi as if he had conjured it out of thin air. Manaphy hopped in place, happier than ever.

"Thought I'd pack another since I figured he might want another one." Alex explained as Manaphy gobbled up the candy.

"Goomi!" Manaphy said brightly, showing his pleasure by dancing around in place.

"Liked it did you, Manaphy?" Alex said, also smiling brightly. Then he noticed that Manaphy was already a bit bigger than he was yesterday. His observations were drawn away by what he heard next:

"Alex! Eve!" Manaphy said gleefully and started to dance around them.

Alex blinked, astonished at how fast the child was apparently developing.

"Wow… he's already learned our names…" Eve said just as stunned as her partner.

"Hey… how about we take him down to the beach?" Alex suggested after a few moments of watching Manaphy continue to happily dance around the cave.

"Okay, that sounds like a good idea."

o0o

They led Manaphy through town. The town was more crowded at the time, resulting in a lot of pokemon looking at Manaphy and comment how cute he was as they passed. They arrived at the beach, Manaphy's cheery mood seemingly unbreakable. He had been enthused by meeting so many new pokemon in town.

They stepped out onto the sand and Manaphy was immediately drawn to the water, awe spread across his face.

"This is the ocean, Manaphy." Eve explain "It's where you came from."

"O-shun?" Manaphy echoed, curious about yet another new word.

"Yep, that's right. Ocean." Alex confirmed, nodding.

Manaphy splashed in the water and immediately found it to be so enjoyable he giggled and splashed some more, doing his "happy dance" in the water.

Team Long Ears soon joined him and they spend the day there playing.

o0o

That night, they were all sleeping well from a long day of playing.

Manaphy though, rose from his bed and hovered over to the "teeth" of the cave and gazed out at the ocean far below…

The young pokemon continued to stare like this for some hours…

o0o

The next morning, Eve woke up about the same time as her partner.

"'Morning Alex." She said and turned to Manaphy's bed.

"Good morn-" she stopped dead in her sentence.

Manaphy was gone.


	45. A Miracle and Goodbyes

_**Another somewhat sad chapter. There is a bit of humor involved though. I hope I've done well.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 44: A Miracle and Goodbyes

Chatot was just heading into town to check up on how Team Long Ears and Manaphy were doing when the two came running up in a panic.

"Team Long Ears," Chatot blinked, noticing their panic, "I was just coming to check on Manaphy. Whatever is the matter?"

"That's the thing, Chatot!" Eve said hurriedly "Manaphy has gone missing!" Alex was behind her, looking around wildly for any signs of the water-type.

The bird immediately jumped, fluttering with alarm with an outcry of "_What?_"

"I knew I should've warned you to keep a better eye on the child." Chatot snapped.

"We've already asked around town and no one had seen Manaphy." Eve continued, putting any guilt over their situation "on the shelf" for the moment.

"He might have gotten by them by some chance. I'll check at the guild just to be sure! You two go check the beach! I don't think Manaphy can have wandered too far." Chatot said quickly.

With that, they went in opposite directions towards their respective destinations.

o0o

The team arrived at the beach and both Alex and his partner were considerably relieved when they saw the familiar blue figure hovering before the water, which was simply ebbing in and away from the shore.

"Manaphy! You had us worried!" Eve said, breathless from their haste.

Alex noticed that there was something wrong though…

Manaphy's eyes were dim and his breathing was visibly shallow. Eve, past her worried anger, noticed a moment later as well.

"Manaphy? What's wrong?" her tone was considerably softer now.

Manaphy's eyes fluttered and then he softly collapsed onto the sand. Eve moved in and looked over the young pokemon. Both could see he was completely unharmed. Eve set a paw gently on Manaphy's head and flinched away, looking startled.

"Whoa! He's burning up!" she said, fear (tinged with her worry) now in her tones.

"Let's get him back home; I'll take him back there, Eve. You go tell Chatot we found him."

They nodded in agreement and Alex carefully lifted Manaphy off the sand and hurried with him to their team base. Eve split up from him at the crossroad, going up to the guild.

o0o

Chatot came into their cave a few minutes after Alex had gingerly set Manaphy down on the bed they had set up for him. The bird briefly observed Manaphy's condition and set a wing over the child's head, checking for himself.

"Good _heavens_… what a terrible fever…" he murmured in some shock.

"Like I said, he just collapsed there on the beach when we found him." Eve said. Chatot grimaced, looking very worried indeed as he removed his wing from Manaphy.

"I have little doubt this is due to growing up in an environment completely unfamiliar to the one he was supposed to grow up in…" Chatot said softly. Though his tone wasn't harsh or accusatory, Eve's ears still dropped with shame, knowing fully the fault lay with them.

"This is all my fault… I insisted on this." She murmured "I'm so sorry."

"Well," Chatot said slowly, his tone retaining its gentleness, "Feeling sorry now won't fix anything."

"What can we do then?" Alex said, feeling slightly desperate. Chatot spent several moments considering.

"There's one way I can think of to help Manaphy now. Once we do this, we _must_ get him back to the ocean where he belongs or we'll end up repeating this situation again in the future. Do I make myself clear, you two?" Chatot said, ending tersely.

Eve nodded somewhat miserably and Alex also nodded, feeling guilty for leading Manaphy into this mess in the first place.

_We shouldn't have taken that egg from the Surrounded Sea…_

"Right. There is a place called the Miracle Sea to the west. There's a few islands around that sea and it's rumored there is a settlement of water sprites called Phione there." Chatot explained "They produce a special substance called 'Phione Dew'. It supposedly can heal any aliment for a water-type. Hopefully, they will be willing to share some. That is the only hope for Manaphy I can think of."

"Miracle Sea. Got it." Alex said, nodding.

"Hurry. I will stay here and watch over Manaphy. We don't have any time to lose here."

Alex and his partner immediately set out.

o0o

Lapras had seen the events on the beach and only required a brief explanation of events to understand what was needed. She knew the whereabouts of the Miracle Sea.

Several hours of riding later, the team was dropped off at a small beach. They promptly headed deeper onto the small island at a full-on sprint.

They found a cave and headed inside, it to be rather well-lit, even deeper in. Water-types popped up from the water every now and then or just came out of the water entirely and attacked.

Many were the same species they had fought back at Surrounded Sea. There weren't as many octillery this time around though and more of a new species called mantine (which were manta-ray pokemon that actually could fly through the air as well as swim). Being that mantine were flying-type as well as water-type, they were little challenge to Alex, who wasted no time in shocking them out the way.

"Don't have time for a fight…" Alex growled, marching forward with such tenacity that some would-be opponents rather decided to shy away (not that he noticed). Eve simply ran to keep up with him.

They occasionally had to dive down into water, which was tropically warm, but they (electrically) blasted through any opposition and resurfaced, continuing on without rest.

This continual charge though eventually needed to take a rest though and when they came up from the cave to sunlight and a clearing with no enemies, Eve managed to convince him to take a minute to rest.

It was indeed, only a minute of rest, and then Alex wanted to get moving again.

Eve knew his drive was coming from his desire to help Manaphy recover. She found herself wondering though if it was also guilt like her own driving him like this. She didn't really have time to consider as Alex stood and, motioning for her to follow, he resumed his march deeper into the island.

They soon came to another cave and were going down from there. They were now continually wading in water again, like at the Surrounded Sea cave.

Alex continued to fry opponents that came. Then he reacted quite aggressively to an opponent that proved rather challenging.

A lanturn (a fish-like pokemon with a glowing ball hanging before its head) received an electrical shock from Alex and jittered as the electricity hit the glowing orb hanging in front of its head.

It then returned the electricity as a discharge, hitting Eve as well.

Alex did not speak, aside from a low, annoyed growl. He slammed the fish pokemon with his tail. It looked a bit dazed at first from getting hit thus and then sprayed Alex with water.

With an enraged yell, Alex flipped through the air and slammed it over the head even harder with his tail. The fish was smashed into the ground. Knocked out with rather excessive force. Even Eve looked a little shocked at the brutality.

The frustrated pikachu then stomped onwards in his foul mood. His partner decided to keep her distance as she followed.

o0o

After travelling a few floors down (leaving a trail of KOed challengers in their wake), the team came into a spacious chamber that held a group of small pokemon who were all talking with each other and in general, enjoying themselves on the surface of a deep pool of water. It looked like this area of the cave was where they lived. None of them noticed a set of eyes under the deep water, staring at the Phione greedily.

The residents looked similar to Manaphy but were, at the same time, clearly different. They shared the small body (with a gem-like object present) and large head similar to Manaphy. However, their eyes were as blue as the rest of their body which was a distinctive "drop" shape. Perhaps most noticeable was the fact that they had only one antenna that wasn't as long as Manaphy's two.

Alex, as he guessed that these were the phione they were searching for, cheered up and his angry mood lifted. Eve still kept her distance though and allowed Alex to handle negotiating with the water sprites.

He was just approaching the phione to make their request when there was a loud roar, which drew all attention.

The phione all screamed and ran as a giant-sized gyarados exploded from the water. It would be best described as a blue sea serpent; easily as big as Dialga or any powerful legendary pokemon Team Long Ears had met.

"Now! I control all of you phione! You serve _me_!" The gyarados declared with a triumphant laugh.

Then he noticed the two explorers.

"What's this? Challengers to my rule?" the hapless gyarados thundered.

Quite suddenly, the air was filled with tension. And electricity.

Something in Alex… had snapped. His head was bowed and one ear fell over his eye. Eve easily sensed the fury peaking and backed away from her partner. Fortunately for everyone, Alex's sanity was quite intact.

_Un_fortunately for the clueless gyarados… it was his temper that had had enough.

"We come all this way… and some idiot water-type… tries bullying the ones… I'm looking to for help_._" Alex said teeth clenched and breathing slowly_ " I've had enough of bullies. **I'VE HAD IT!**_" Alex finally roared, electricity flaring from him intensely with a loud clap of thunder. He then charged and jumped at his opponent.

The gyarados only had a moment to stare at the electrical ball of death flying at him and squeaked out one noise before he was hit: "Eep…"

The next second, there was a blinding flash of light from the collision and a roar filled with pain. The gyarados was knocked right back into the water and Alex landed on solid ground, breathing hard and trying to calm himself back down. The attack had injuried him as well but it wasn't all that serious. Needless to say: though it had survived, the gyarados didn't return. Ever.

Eve uneasily edged up to her partner.

"Um… how about I talk to the phione…" she offered timidly. The phione were slowly coming out of hiding and staring, looking a little scared of Alex now. Alex didn't really answer but Eve took the lack of a real response to mean, "go ahead" and she approached the phione.

They approached her cautiously but were mostly staring at her partner, worried about another furious attack.

"It's alright… we've just had a lot of… experience with bullies. He won't hurt you." Eve assured them.

One came closer to Eve, looking her over. It smiled, as it seemed to realize they weren't there to harm any of them. It then pulled out a small box and held it out to Eve.

"For you. We occasionally get visitors and they are generally looking for our phione dew. I think we can trust you."

"Thank you." Eve said gratefully and accepted the box. Alex meanwhile, managed to get his emotions under control and shoved his ear back up out of his face. Eve opened the box to find a small bottle filled with what was presumably phione dew. This also helped Alex contain his remaining anger enough to smile in friendly fashion to the phione.

They then headed back towards home with all haste.

o0o

They arrived the next day, though the night had involved no sleep for either of them. They were too tense with worry about Manaphy to sleep.

They immediately gave the phione dew to Chatot, who administered it to Manaphy.

Approximately one worry-filled hour later, Manaphy was up and in his usual happy mood again. Relief swept all of them. After about a half-hour of Alex and Eve cheerfully playing with Manaphy, Chatot interrupted the proceedings.

"I have contacted someone to take Manaphy back. We've agreed to meet at the beach." He said this gravely, knowing how hard this would be for all of them.

The two explorers looked crest-fallen but nodded solemnly. They had agreed to this and understood it had to be done. Manaphy, being an infant still, just looked mildly confused and curious as always.

o0o

That evening, they met the pokemon who would be taking Manaphy back to the ocean, at the beach as planned.

He introduced himself as Walrein. He was evidently a walrus pokemon and had a pair of tusks and a dense collection of whiskers about his face that looked akin to a beard. He had a dialect rather like a sailor.

"Aye… so this here is Manaphy then?" he said, looking over the child who was pleased to meet him.

Chatot nodded.

"Right... I'll teach him and make sure he grows up fine and proper out in the ocean..." Walrein assured him.

Chatot then looked at Team Long Ears and gave them a nod as well.

They approached Manaphy.

"Well Manaphy… we've got to say good-bye now…" Eve said, trying to keep herself under control.

Manaphy hadn't been told "good-bye" before and echoed the new words.

"Grow up strong alright?" Alex chipped in.

Manaphy came up to them, wanting to play again but Eve shook her head.

"No… you've got to go with Walrein. Okay?"

The child didn't understand though and continued to prompt his two friends to a game.

Chatot sighed.

"Please Walrein… the longer this drags out, the harder it will be for everyone…" Chatot said, his mood as sad as Alex and Eve's.

"Aye." Walrein nodded and approached Manaphy "Right. You're comin' with me, lad."

Manaphy backed away from the hulking walrus coming towards him, now scared as he began to understand what was happening.

"Alex? Eve?" Manaphy said, confused at his friends' somber moods. Looking for support and protection.

"C'mon. Off we go…" Walrein said gruffly, hooking Manaphy into one flipper and starting to carry him off into the water.

The child struggled and fought to go back to shore (useless against Walrein's bulk and strength), calling out for his friends but… though it pained them, Alex and Eve remained standing where they were on the coast.

Soon, the two water pokemon vanished under the waves.

"Good-bye Manaphy…" Eve said weakly, tears falling from her eyes.

"I'm sorry… but this is for the best…" Chatot said gently to both of them before leaving.

Alex gently set a paw on Eve's shoulder and walked with her back to their home, comforting her on the way.


	46. Charmed

_**I'm starting another semister of college so I might slow down for a while here. Don't worry though, I'm not going to slow down that much so keep an eye out for updates.**_

_**This one's a silly chapter to be honest. A good chunk of humor here.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 45: Charmed

It was a restless night for Alex after saying goodbye to Manaphy at the beach.

Eve had cried herself to sleep. His own bitter sadness at parting with the little water-type wouldn't leave him alone and Alex had trouble getting to sleep himself.

When they woke up the next morning, Alex didn't exactly feel rested but he had at least gotten a few hours of sleep.

They gave the third bed (which they hadn't the spirit or energy to remove the previous evening) a somewhat forlorn look, wishing Manaphy was still there.

"Hey Alex…" Eve said slowly "I'm already missing Manaphy… was it really the right thing to do? Forcing him away like that."

Alex quietly sighed, trying to gently dismiss his sorrow.

"It's hard to say… but yes, I think it was as Chatot told us. It was for the best…"

He found it hard to admit. He wanted to deny it, to claim that they could've taken care of Manaphy a bit longer and let him go a bit gentler than they had. However, the difficulty of the parting was their own fault (having gotten so attached to Manaphy and Manaphy to them) and he was only too aware of that.

Looking over at Eve, she seemed just as down and so Alex decided to do what he had done every time he'd seen her down like this.

"C'mon Eve… let's get to work. For Manaphy." His partner looked up, curious to hear the words of encouragement "As he grows up, we'll continue to grow into a better and better exploration team. I'm sure he'll return someday. When that 'someday' comes, let's make sure we're the finest exploration team around, okay?" He finished, giving his partner a smile.

She nodded and returned the smile. They clasped paws to seal their resolve, put away the third bed, and then they set out.

o0o

The days went by. Manaphy shifted to the back of Alex's mind, though he never forgot the hatchling. He and Eve quickly got back into the flow of work and it became very routine.

So routine that, one day Alex wasn't paying attention as they checked the job boards. It wasn't until Eve pointed out the unusual circumstances that he noticed that the room of the guild was completely empty.

"Where is everyone?" Eve said, looking around at the barren room.

Throughout all the days he'd been in the guild, Alex had absolutely _never_ seen the job room completely devoid of pokemon. This was a first: there was no one save themselves.

He was about to comment on the emptiness when they heard a commotion downstairs on the second level of the guild. It sounded like the guild was extremely excited about something.

"I guess they're all down there for… whatever it is that's going on…" Alex said shrugging.

"Well, I'm curious. Let's go check it out." Eve said and headed for the ladder, Alex following.

They immediately noticed the entire guild gathered around in front of the Guildmaster's chamber. It clearly wasn't morning meeting: everyone was gathered in a circle around something and were all talking excitedly. Chatot was outside the circle, looking disappointed as if he had been left out when dividing up a prize.

"Hey Chatot. What's going on?" Eve said, getting the parrot's attention.

"What? Don't you know?" Chatot said, sounding thoroughly shocked "Team Charm has come to visit the guild!"

"Team Charm?" Alex echoed, wondering what manner of team that was. He had actually overheard one or two rumors out in town that day but hadn't been paying any attention to them.

Then a gap appeared in the circle and Alex saw the group of pokemon that he hadn't seen before.

_That's Team Charm?_ Was the only thought that got through his mind before it went blank. Chatot took the opportunity to explain who was who on the team but Alex didn't really hear it, as he was too busy staring.

"The gorgeous one in the middle is Lopunny. She's the leader of the group." Chatot started with a wistful sigh. This was the one Alex couldn't tear his eyes off of. He barely caught her name and that was about it.

Lopunny was clearly a rabbit-pokemon, she was somewhat humanoid in shape though and stood on two legs. She had ears that had to be twice as long as Alex himself was tall (ending in fluffs of fur), which hung down behind her head, nearly touching the ground, putting the length of Alex and his partner's ears cleanly to shame. Her hands were up near her face and had ruffs of fluffy, wool-like hair at her wrists (similar to the tips of her ears), making it look like she might've had sleeves. She was pre-dominantly a dark shade of brown and a lighter, tan-like color in places like her belly and the ends of her ears.

"Gorgeous" was a sore understatement of Lopunny's indescribable beauty.

"The graceful one to her right, that's Gardevoir. She's _extremely_ smart." Chatot was continuing, though Alex wasn't catching a word.

"Graceful" certainly described Gardevoir's appearance. She was the most human-like of the three, though like all human-shaped pokemon, there was certainly no possibility of mistaking her for human. She had a green dome-like head that had a sleek curve; it looked like a sort of helmet as her face was white and her eyes were visible just under the "helmet". The rest of her was a pure white and looked like a very slender human woman wearing a gown of some sort with long, thin arms. There was an odd red, protusion from her chest. She was beautiful as well, though hers paled next to Lopunny.

"And the last one to her left, that's Medicham. She knows all sorts of martial arts and is the muscle of Team Charm." Chatot finished, sounding like he would've liked to write a sonnet about them and sing it.

Medicham was humanoid in shape as well. She had massive legs (a hot pink) that looked like she was wearing a set of extremely baggy (or perhaps just over-sized) pants. The rest of her was slender in appearance, having a white body, arms and face. Half of her head was also the same shade of pink as her legs and looked like a sort of hat.

She wasn't exactly beautiful, but she had a certain grace to her appearance as well.

"Aren't they wondrous?" Chatot sighed.

Alex opened his mouth and said something _real_ intelligent.

"Daaah… uhhhhh…" Alex couldn't help noticing his heart seemed to be beating rather audibly.

Eve was also staring (again, Alex wasn't paying enough attention to really notice this) but she glanced at Alex when she heard his mumbling and burst out laughing. She bumped his side and got him to snap out of it.

Though he awakened from his stupor, he still couldn't stop staring.

Meanwhile, the Guildmaster emerged from his chambers to excited greetings from the visiting team.

"Wigglytuff! How you've been?" Lopunny said with an air of cheeriness that matched the Guildmaster's.

"It's been a long time, Wigglytuff." Gardevoir said with a warm smile.

"What?" Loudred said (as loud as ever) "Team CHARM knows the Guildmaster?" he said in disbelief.

"Oh yeah…" Medicham laughed "We all used to go exploring together all the time. Wigglytuff was something else back in the day. Like 'rowr, girl'!"

Wigglytuff was also quite happy to see his old friends again and they spent a minute or two socializing. Then Gardevoir cleared her throat for attention and spoke up, getting to business.

"Wigglytuff, it really is good to see you again, but we've actually returned because we've finally found those sealed ruins we've been looking for."

"You remember we gave you the key to keep safe, right?" Lopunny said expectantly.

Wigglytuff blinked and seemed to think about it for about five seconds. Then he said:

"Key? Nope, sorry. I can't remember." He shrugged as if this were a small matter of no importance.

"What?" Medicham yelled, somewhat furiously "You _lost it_? We gave it to _you_ for a _reason!_" But Medicham was the only one who reacted with outrage.

Gardevoir gazed at the Guildmaster for a few moments and then smiled, shaking her head gently.

"You really haven't changed, have you Wigglytuff?" she said with a gentle laugh "Lopunny…" she glanced at their team leader.

"I'm on it Gardevoir." Lopunny said, still smiling as cheerfully as ever. She then reached into their treasure bag and dug around in it for a moment and produced an apple from it. Alex could identify it immediately.

"Here you go, Wigglytuff. Your favorite." Lopunny said, setting the perfect apple down in front of the guildmaster who promptly was overjoyed to receive it and, picking it up, started to bounce it around on his head as he was known to do.

"Now then… about that key…" Gardevoir said coyly. Wigglytuff's eyes brightened.

"Oh yeah! _That_ key!" the guildmaster responded "I remember now! Just a sec."

The guildmaster put the apple away while he went back into his chamber. Medicham blinked, apparently taken aback by the guildmaster's sudden recall.

A few seconds later, there was a loud "_YOOM-TAH!_" and then an even louder crash! Several guild members jumped as it had sounded like the guildmaster might have just totaled his own chamber.

Wigglytuff stepped back out a second later (looking as if nothing had happened) with something besides the apple in his hand.

"Here you go." He said, handing it over to Lopunny and resuming his apple-bouncing activity.

"Thanks Wigglytuff." Lopunny with a bright smile.

"Say Wigglytuff, you wanna do like in the old times and join us for the exploration?" Medicham asked, a bit excited. However, the offer apparently fell on deaf ears, as the guildmaster was too busy playing with his new perfect apple to listen.

"I think that's a 'no'." Gardevoir said warmly.

"Well, c'mon. Let's go unlock those ruins and find us some treasure." Lopunny said, her mood never changing. The guildmembers surrounding them broke apart to make way for them.

Alex felt his heart speed up as the trio passed them, heading for the ladder going up.

"Hey, can we come along?" Eve called after them hopefully. Team Charm stopped and Lopunny looked directly at them.

"Well aren't you cute?" Lopunny said sweetly, kneeling down slightly (since she was considerably taller than Alex or his partner). Alex felt a little light-headed, like he might fall over.

Lopunny giggled noticing Alex's expression, rubbed Eve playfully on the head and then responded:

"Sure, you can come along! It'll be fun!"

As soon as these words were out, everyone else (sans Wigglytuff) was eager to come too.

Lopunny giggled some more upon seeing all of this.

"You _all_ can come if you want." She said, standing up and posing in a cool and beautiful manner (Alex's heart jumped) "We're on our way to the ruins so you'd best follow us!"

The vast majority of the guild promptly scrambled to get ready to go.

"They're really a nice team aren't they?" Eve said with a smile that seemed would never fade.

"Uh yeah… Team Charm wasn't it?" Alex's memory was still trying to catch up after his mind had run away with him.

"Yes Alex…" Eve said laughing "Lopunny, Gardevoir and Medicham. I noticed how you were acting. Sheesh… how about you get your head out of the clouds now so we can go?" she said, trying to subdue her laughter.

Alex's face started to burn and he quickly looked elsewhere until it went away. They then headed out to get ready.

Alex was quite aware of how stupidly he had acted… and near his partner no less. It seemed she wasn't holding anything against him though and he was grateful to his partner for that.

Soon enough, they had packed and gotten ready. Team Charm had kindly waited at the crossroads for anyone coming along to show up before heading out. Alex kept himself focused this time and didn't stare like an idiot. Loudred, Corphish, and Sunflora had come along for the trip. It seemed everyone else was, for some reason or another, going to stay at the guild.

"Well c'mon everyone. Let's go to the ruins!" Lopunny said, still wearing a bright smile and they set off.


	47. Mysteries of the Unown

_**Relatively long chapter. To be honest, I think I got sort of repetitive in this chapter but then again, that's how it kinda is in the game when you get to this point. I guess it kinda translated over.**_

_**Anyways, if this chapter's dull, please do give me some tips to spice it up. I'd hate to scare off readers with boredom.**_

_**Hope you enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 46: Mysteries of the Unown

The trip to the ruins Team Charm had found was rather fast. Team Charm was a swift team and moved as fast as everyone else could handle. Though it pushed their endurance to the limit, they kept up until they arrived. Alex and Eve introduced themselves more formally to Team Charm on the way. Lopunny seemed to like their team name for fairly obvious reason (given the length of her own ears). Then they were at a rock wall.

"Well, this is it everyone. Aegis Cave." Lopunny said, approaching a portion of wall that had engravings on it.

The engravings looked very familiar to Alex but he didn't get a chance to take a closer look before Team Charm pulled out the key Wigglytuff had been keeping safe for them and slotted it into the rock.

The engravings glowed and then the rock shifted out of the way.

Loudred and the others were winded but still raring to go. For Team Long Ears, the run hadn't actually been that difficult.

_Probably due to what we've been through._ Alex figured mentally.

They stepped into the cave and almost immediately found themselves a small chamber with a single tombstone-like slab of stone standing in the center.

"What's this?" Gardevoir murmured and gently knelt down at the stone to inspect it. Alex came up along aside her and looked as well.

At the top of the stone was a single word in runes that Alex had seen before… back at the Hidden Land.

"Those are Unown runes, right?" Alex asked, blinking. He felt like he'd seen the word before but not at the Hidden Land.

"Yes, that's right." Gardevoir said, sounding mildly impressed and giving him an approving smile, "I happen to know how to read all sorts of runes. I've done a lot of studying while exploring. This word here is 'Ice'." She said, pointing to the three-rune word.

Alex looked at the runes again… he found it odd… he could almost see the word "ICE" engraved there but the runes had odd circles and a few other designs that distorted the shapes away from being plainer letters. Gardevoir started to read more text below, mumbling it to herself.

"_If you wish to proceed… close your eyes and submit… your proof?"_

The text she was reading was in normal English rather than Unown runes.

"Proof? What KIND of PROOF?" Loudred said, an eyebrow raised.

Everyone glanced at Gardevoir, apparently expecting an ingenious answer.

"I know a lot but I certainly don't know everything." She said gently with a soft giggle.

"Well, how about we just go explore and maybe we'll find an answer somewhere deeper in?" Eve suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Lopunny said brightly "But we're all competing now, okay?" she warned everyone else, still wearing a bright smile "Whoever gets to the treasure first gets to claim it. Deal?"

"I'm willing to take that deal." Alex said, excitement starting to build up in him. He wasn't distracted by Team Charm now. His mind was now focusing on the adventure and puzzle before them.

Everyone else was quick to also take up the deal and they all set off into the cave.

o0o

The deeper parts of Aegis Cave proved to be full of the pokemon that the runes were named for: unown.

Unown came in various shapes and appearances but they all had a few things in common. The first was that they all had a single, staring eye and were a solid inky black in color. Another was that they were all psychic type (which was how they got around as they hovered about through the ruins). There was something else about them that Alex felt he'd seen before but he couldn't quite put his paw on it.

Unown aside, the cave had little else for residents though Alex and Eve occasionally would come across a golbat (which Alex would quickly deal with by frying).

The unown were odd. They weren't challenging opponents, far from it; Eve had no trouble taking a couple of them down just by smacking them. On occasion, a defeated unown would suddenly shrink, the eye would vanish (replaced by a circular hole) and the body would become petrified, turning to stone. In this wise, the unown became a small, oddly shaped rock hardly bigger than a pebble.

Alex and his partner didn't have to go down very far into the ruins before they suddenly found themselves somehow back in the room they had started in. Team Charm was there, mulling over the puzzle some more.

"Short dungeon…" Eve commented, glancing back.

"Yes… it _was_ quite short, wasn't it?" Gardevoir responded, inspecting the stone slab again, "I do believe if we don't solve the riddle right here, we're all going to just being going in circles all day. We've tried closing our eyes as this stone says but nothing's happened so far."

"What's with all the unown in the cave?" Alex said, looking quizzically at one of the small petrified unown they had picked up in their exploration.

They all shrugged.

"My guess is they have something to do with the puzzle." Lopunny said, then giggled "Then again, Gardevoir's the brains of our group. I'm afraid I don't use my head all that much." She admitted though she seemed to find it amusing.

"I don't know anything…" Medicham groaned, hanging her arms and head "This is all beyond me."

"Well, the only thing we can do right now is just go through the cave once more. I'm sure we'll figure something out." Gardevoir said confidently, standing up.

"Alright then, let's all keep it up. Good luck you two." Lopunny said sweetly to Alex and his partner, giving them a cute little wave and then Team Charm headed out.

Alex approached the slab himself and looked at the runes again.

_Where have I seen these before…?_

Eve meanwhile stood back and allowed him room to think.

Alex tried touching the slab but no Dimensional Screams came to him and his memory still wasn't jogged about where the runes were in his memory.

He reread the text lower down.

"If you wish to proceed…Submit your proof…"

He looked up at the runes again and, it was after having read plainer text that he recognized the unown runes.

_That's it!_

He compared the letters. The "I" in "wish", the "C" and "E's" in "proceed". He compared all three to the unown runes along the top.

They were different, yes. But all three were very similar.

_The unown runes are just like English letters! They may be oddly shaped but they're the same!_

He could read the word "ICE" spelled out in unown more clearly now.

This was also when he realized the other thing all the unown had in common: they were all shaped roughly like a letter of the alphabet.

Alex still wasn't entirely sure what the slab meant by "submit your proof" but now he had a shrewd guess.

"C'mon Eve. Let's go again. We're going to hunt some unown!" he said quickly and led the way into the cave again.

o0o

As it had so happened, Alex had picked up a "C" shaped unown stone on their first trip through.

_Just need to find an "I" and an "E" now._

By a stroke of luck, they found the unown he was looking for quickly enough and the desired unown shrank down upon defeat and became the stones he was looking for.

Eve helped him find the way down and they soon arrived back at the room with the slab. Team Charm wasn't anywhere to be seen. Whether they had found the way forward or were still searching was anyone's guess.

"Alright… I hope this works and I didn't just waste our time." Alex murmured, pulling all the three small stones in their treasure bag.

He stood before the slab and closed his eyes.

Eve yelped a moment later.

"Whoa! The stones are glowing!"

There was an odd sound and suddenly Alex's paws were empty.

He opened his eyes to see the stones were gone… and so was the stone slab. Under where the slab had been was a stairway going down.

Both explorers whooped excitedly and went in. The slab reappeared over the hole after they had gone in.

"I'm thinking it will allow us out when we want out. But right now, let's keep going down." Alex said and they proceeded.

They soon came to another room that was empty, save for one pokemon there. It wasn't like any Alex had seen.

This pokemon looked like something someone had cut from a giant chunk of ice. It was angular and had sharp edges and smooth sides that reflected any light that hit it; it looked overall like a very large, hovering ice-crystal. It appeared to have arms and legs (which were just as angular as the rest of it) and had an array of odd yellow dots shaped in a sort of side-ways cross across its front.

Had it not spoken or moved, Alex would not have believed it was a pokemon.

"IF YOU WISH TO PROCEED…" It stated robotically "THEN SHOW YOUR POWER."

It then advanced on them, a chill sweeping the room. It was clearly an ice-type.

Alex darted towards it and hit it. The contact was only for perhaps half a second but when Alex rebounded and landed again, the limb that had made contact was already coated in frost and going numb from cold.

"Eh… I think we'd best keep our distance…" Alex said uneasily, rubbing the limb to restore feeling.

Despite seeing what had happened to her partner, Eve still attempted to rush forward as well and land a fast strike on the living ice-cube. She came back, trying to shake off cold and frost in her fur.

The ice-golem pokemon meanwhile exuded a strong force, which caused several fairly large rocks around the room to levitate off the ground and pitch themselves at Alex.

Alex shielded himself from the attack the best he could, enduring the pain as the rock storm tumbled over him. He got scratched up badly but he stood up to the attack and sent a charge of electricity crackling through the ice-type.

Eve saw it turn towards her and she did something that could've been considered a bit suicidal, given the opponent. She charged directly at it and slammed into it in a rough tumbling attack.

She quickly leapt off, stiff and shivering.

"Where's this thing been?" Alex said in disbelief as he tried to warm his partner up again "Blizzard Island? It's so cold!"

"Y-y-y-you're t-telling m-me…" Eve chattered.

The golem meanwhile, seemed to be confused and Alex guessed from the motions it was making that it had forgotten something.

Alex shocked it again and it seemed to be less perturbed by the attack than before for some reason. Eve just did what she could to help.

The ice-type again summoned several rocks into the air and this time, Eve guarded Alex as the rocks flew at them. Eve endured this and Alex shot forward once again, slamming the ice-type that then began to shake and tremble like it was about to shatter.

Eve was warm enough to move again by this point so they faced the ice-type, ready to finish the fight.

But it suddenly vanished into a pulsing ball of white light. They stood, waiting for something to happen and the ball broke into two parts, both of which flew into Alex.

Needless to say, this startled the former human, who immediately started checking for any new injuries and was ready for a mental assault. However, a calm (though still robotic) voice echoed in his head.

"THE GUARDIAN'S PERMISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED. YOU MAY PROCEED."

The wall that had been behind the guardian then parted, showing the way forward.

Team Long Ears exchanged glances and with a shrug, they headed deeper inside.

o0o

They arrived at another chamber that had a tombstone like the first one they had entered in the ruins.

It too had the same message, which said to close their eyes and submit "proof". However, the unown runes at the top of the slab were different.

It took Alex a minute of close inspection, but he managed to translate the runes with confident accuracy.

"Rock?"

Eve though was noticing something that Alex had overlooked.

"Hey, what's this?" she picked up a slip of paper that was sitting on the ground in front of the slab. She read it to herself and then commented:

"It's from Team Charm."

Alex looked at the note himself, which read:

_To Team Long Ears,_

_We've already gone ahead. Don't forget: this is a race. Good luck._

_Lopunny_

The leader of Team Charm had even drawn a little heart after "good luck" on the slip.

Alex smirked.

"I guess we'd best step up the pace then." Alex said, only spurred onwards by the note's taunting message.

They hurried on in and started searching for unown that looked like the letters "R", "O", "C", and "K".

It was a long search and they had to make two rounds through the brief cave ahead of them but they finally found all four unown letters they were looking for.

They repeated the procedure they had gone through with the first slab and the second one before them vanished exactly like the first. Again, the four letter-stones they had collected vanished afterwards.

o0o

Inside, it wasn't too surprising to Alex when they came across yet another guardian. This pokemon looked more like a golem than the previous one as it was clearly made of brown and gray rock. It was more roughly shaped than its predecessor and the dots across its front were not only arrayed in an "H" shaped pattern this time but were also more of a red hue.

It gave them the same message as the previous guardian:

"IF YOU WISH TO PROCEED, THEN SHOW YOUR POWER."

Alex started off the fight by unleashing an electrical charge on it.

The rock it was made of chipped and cracked slightly but it retaliated by swinging one of its large, rock arms and hurling the end off, sending the large rock flying at them as if from a sling.

Both explorers dove aside to avoid this and Alex, having no idea what else to do to attack, shocked it again. Eve knocked a spray of sand at its face and this irritated it (though whether it was blinded or not was another matter). Like the ice-type before it, this golem started summoning up an odd force that caused the rocks around the room to lift off the ground and then proceed to fly at them. Being that this one was more in-tune with the rocks, more rocks came flying and Alex had to move fast to avoid it.

Eve blinked, staring at Alex as her partner had started moving so fast that he actually appeared to split into two copies of himself. Alex realized his unconscious effort a moment later and pushed himself to higher speeds. Three of him were soon running circles around the golem, thoroughly confounding it.

It hurled a rock at one Alex, who turned out to be an illusion and the real one zapped it again.

Eve cheered and jumped on the rock-type, biting it. The move startled it and Alex darted in, slapping it with his tail.

It staggered back and Eve jumped off as it also started to quake like the previous one. Alex was ready this time when it vanished into a ball of light, which then shot into him.

Like previously, a voice spoke, telling him that they were allowed to proceed and the way opened before them.

"Cool move back there Alex." Eve commented as they stepped forward.

"I think I might've been able to do that for a while now... I just never have bothered I guess..."

"Confidence in a hard head?" Eve jokingly suggested with a laugh. Alex snorted, rolling his eyes.

They came into yet a third room with yet another slab.

"Yeesh… how many times are we going to need to spell out a word…?" Eve muttered.

"I hope this might be the last. Getting all those letters can be a bit of a pain." Alex said in response "Anyways, let's see what they want us to spell this time…" with that, he stepped up to the slab and looked at the unown runes.

It helped that two of the letters were one that he'd already seen. However, the word was five-letters long:

"Steel…"

"Um… is the next guardian going to be made of steel then? I kinda noticed the pattern and all…" Eve trailed off, sounding uncertain.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Alex said in somewhat bored tones "Sounds like it might be tough if it's steel-type though. Let's find those letters and hurry up. We might still be able to beat Team Charm to the finish line, how ever deep it is."

Eve nodded in agreement and they proceeded.

o0o

They had lost track of time by this point and weren't sure how long they had been in the cave. They didn't see any sign of Team Charm or anyone else who had come along on the trip. There were only the unown and the occasional machamp (four-armed muscular humanoid pokemon that looked like overly-buff wrestlers).

After what felt to Alex like an hour or two and three trips around the short cave, arriving back at the slab each time, they finally had collected an "S", "T", two "E's", and an "L" stone from the unown.

By this time, Alex was getting tired and a bit fatigued from the adventure.

They decided to take a quick break around the slab to rest up and prepare themselves for the fight that inevitably laid ahead.

Once they both felt they were rested enough, they stood and Alex positioned himself before the slab, the five letter-stones in his paws.

"Here goes nothing." He breathed and shut his eyes.


	48. Teamup With Team Charm

_**Whew, big epic chapter. I need a serious review (or beta) for this chapter. Being it's pretty long, it wouldn't surprise me if there's parts that could use improvement.**_

_**Author's note: the explosive attack used by Regigigas is supposed to be "Superpower" FYI. While I'm on the subject, the "electrical stimulation" from Alex is supposed to be "Agility" as I've imagined it.**_

_**Still, enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 47: Team-up with Team Charm

The way forward opened and the five letter-stones vanished. The third chamber had yet another guardian, waiting for Team Long Ears.

This guardian looked, as Eve had expected, like it was made of steel. It was somewhat ball-shaped with a silvery shell-like covering of steel at its sides. What looked like the core underneath that shell was dark in color and had seven of the dots (like eyes) arranged in a circular pattern on its "face" with one of the dots in the center. The legs were stumpy and silver like its shell. The arms were slim and black, ending in large, clawed hands that had the same red dots across the back of the hands, lending it a creepy appearance.

This golem looked the most like some robot out of the three they had encountered.

Once again, the guardian commanded them:

"IF YOU WISH TO PROCEED, THEN SHOW YOUR POWER."

It then advanced on them, intent to see their power.

"I doubt physical attacks are going to help much here." Alex said to his partner.

"Well, it's all I can do to help… let's do this Alex." Eve responded.

They charged at the steel-type and Alex shocked it, the electricity arcing on the metal. Eve charged forward and attempted to tackle it, hitting it with a heavy clunk. It stopped moving a moment to absorb the impact and then raised on hand.

Alex quickly shoved a dizzy Eve out of the way and barely managed to avoid a more serious injury himself from the golem's sharp metal claws as it swiped down on him. He still ended up getting raked a bit across the back but he rounded on it and zapped it again. Eve managed to subdue the headache she had gotten from hitting the metal pokemon and hurled some dirt off the ground at its face.

It shook its body as the dust scattered over it and swiped at Alex again, who jumped out of the way.

"I'd rather not get clawed again." he commented and started moving at high speed in a circle around the steel-type.

It looked around, a bit confused from its suddenly multiplying opponent and Eve tried biting it, which it didn't really seem to notice (or it didn't care). It swiped at Alex again, making a lucky guess and Alex was knocked tumbling away as he received a new gash across his stomach.

It then brushed at Eve, who jumped off and used her back legs to kick more dust at it, trying to blind it more.

"I can't even tell if our attacks are having any effect." Alex said, a little despairingly and attempted to shock it again.

The steel golem absorbed the damage (whatever had been done) and raised both arms, exuding the same power the two before it had also shown. Like before, rocks rose from the ground and then pitched at Eve, who yelped in alarm and scrambled to escape the barrage of rocks coming to bury her.

"You leave her alone!" Alex roared and jumped, latching onto the golem, discharged directly into it.

It quite suddenly became twitchy as the electricity arced around it and what was clearly paralysis set in.

_Whoa… I didn't think something so robotic could experience paralysis._ Alex thought, halting his electrocution in his surprise.

Eve tried tackling it again, to little effect and Alex quickly resumed his electrical assault.

This quickly proved to be enough for the golem and it started to shake like the two before. Alex dropped off and they backed up to give the golem room. It soon vanished into the ball of light like the ones before and that light rushed into Alex.

"THE GUARDIAN'S PERMISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED. YOU MAY PROCEED."

This wasn't a surprise to Alex and Eve after having experienced it twice already.

What did surprise them was when three lights appeared on the ground and after a bright flash: Team Charm was suddenly on the ground before them.

Lopunny stirred, getting up.

"Ugh… what happened?" she groaned. She looked like she had just gotten rather beaten down.

"I'm not entirely sure…" Gardevoir responded, also pushing herself up off the ground "I think we were fighting Registeel and… Medicham got into trouble… I can't remember after that…"

Medicham sat up from lying on her back, rubbing at injuries.

"Sorry girls… that was all my fault…" she said guiltily.

Alex and Eve quickly got over their surprise at the appearing-act Team Charm had pulled.

"Are you alright?" Alex said, looking at their injuries with concern.

"Yeah… we're fine." Lopunny said, giving him her usual smile "But that's first time in a long time we've failed at an exploration… I'm kind of ashamed of myself now to be caught like this." She did look a little embarrassed, even if she was still smiling.

"I suppose it happens even to the best at times." Gardevoir admitted, standing up.

"So you two succeeded where we failed then?" Medicham asked.

"I guess…" Alex said uncertainly.

"Well then, that settles it." Lopunny said, as cheery as ever "We'll continue on down our own way and help you when the time comes as thanks for rescuing us here. But from here on out, this is your exploration. You get to claim the treasure at the end."

"Is that really alright with you?" Eve said.

"We screwed up." Lopunny said with a shrug and silly giggle "Our fault for getting lax."

"Alright, let's get to the bottom then, shall we?" Alex said.

"We'll go our own separate ways and meet at the bottom." Gardevoir said with a nod.

"Alright, see you down there." Eve agreed and they set out again.

o0o

The way forward led to more of Aegis Cave to explore, rather than yet another tombstone calling for the spelling of some word. Alex felt some minor relief over this. He had been getting tired of hunting down letters to spell out words.

Unown were still infesting the cave and Team Long Ears simply barreled through all the letters and fought their way down further.

The trip was fairly short too. They soon arrived at an utterly enormous chamber.

There was what appeared to be an array of eleven statues towards the back of the room. Moss and other small plant-life grew out of cracks in the stone floor and the room, despite being underground, was rather well lit.

Team Charm emerged from the cave into the chamber as well moments later, immediately looking around the room in mild awe.

The attention of all five explorers was drawn to the back area of the chamber where the statues were. A very loud, robotic voice echoed throughout the room.

"**IF YOU WISH TO FIND THE TREASURE, THEN SHOW YOUR FULL POWER**."

It didn't sound like the speaker was shouting, they were just loud. That kind of volume meant something big was speaking.

Then there was a flash and quite suddenly: all eleven statues were live pokemon. All of them didn't look friendly.

There were six bronzong in the small pokemon battalion and four hitmonlee (which were fighting types that had strong, telescoping, springy legs and were primarily brown in color with only a set of eyes for a face).

The biggest concern for Team Charm and Team Long Ears though, was the giant in the center of this small army.

It was a variety of colors and had a roughly humanoid appearance. It was mainly white in color with black bands across its arms and legs. It had gold-colored bands around its wrists, over its shoulders, and what might have been its head was also gold (stretching down the center of its body, bisecting it). It had an array of black dots arranged in an odd "I" shaped pattern that ended in a small four-dot circle at the top across this "head". There were three sets of gems that were red, blue, and white from top to bottom in that order, embedded in the body on each side of the "head". Bits of shrubbery appeared to be growing on its shoulders (between its "head" and shoulder bands) and at its feet like shoes. It was easily as big as Dialga.

"Alright, we're going to work together to do this." Lopunny called over to Team Long Ears "I know we can do it together! Let's go!"

If Alex were to be honest with himself, he would've said that he felt they didn't stand a chance, being outnumbered two-to-one plus one giant to fight on their opponent's side. He couldn't simply discharge wildly and hope to hit all of those enemies. Team Charm could get hurt.

"C'mon Alex, Lopunny's right. I know we can do this." Eve said, drawing Alex's attention "I know I can do it so long as you're here." She assured him.

Alex breathed out. He took a moment to focus, to calm his nerves. Unintentionally, his electricity started to fly loose and Eve was struck by it. She didn't cry out in pain but she jittered.

"Whoa. What are you doing, Alex?" she asked "That's doesn't hurt… but it feels… weird." She seemed a bit more energetic. His electricity also reached out to Team Charm and (though they didn't say so) they felt the same effects.

When he stopped focusing, he felt lighter and a powerful buzz of energy at his core. Instinctively, he knew what had happened: he had somehow stimulated his muscles with his electricity.

Alex charged and so did the other four, at an incredible speed. Alex was sure he hadn't seen Eve move that fast before. Their opponents seemed quite slow in comparison.

Lopunny jumped high into the air and came down like the proverbial ton of bricks on one of the bronzong feet first, sending the bell skidding back and KOing it in one powerful move.

Alex electrocuted another one that came at him and Eve backed up his attack with a full-force tackle, hurting her own head in the move but also KOing the bell.

Medicham lunged at another Bronzong, slamming it with one hand. The impact should have merely shoved the opponent away but there was a loud noise from the impact and the bronzong was knocked tumbling back through the air, though it remained up right.

One of the hitmonlee unwisely got close to Gardevoir, who extended one hand and the psychic force that slammed it knocked the fighting-type straight to the ground.

_Four Bronzong, three hitmonlee, and one hopelessly powerful giant to go._ Alex thought, keeping up the tally.

Two bronzong attempted to psychically assault Medicham while the other hitmonlee close to them attempted to slam Lopunny with a kick (which she dodged). Medicham endured this attack and continued fighting.

For Team Long Ears, Alex and Eve each got targeted by a psychic-type and a fighting-type move. They couldn't do anything to avoid the psychic strikes but Eve ducked under a high, sweeping kick from the attacking hitmonlee. Alex ended up getting hit in the stomach by the other fighting-type's foot and rolled with the attack, loose electricity arcing up the opponent's elongated leg and paralyzing it.

Alex had a nasty bruise on his torso now and he retaliated by unleashing electricity all around him. Both bronzong withstood the attack, remaining off the ground and ready to fight. Both hitmonlee also were hit and Eve finished off the one that wasn't paralyzed with another fast tackle.

Team Charm continued their mop-up of opponents on their half of the battlefield, Gardevoir flooring the other hitmonlee while Lopunny punched another bronzong, leaving it dazed. Medicham meanwhile, apparently decided to take a big risk. She leapt even higher into the air than Lopunny had previously.

_If she doesn't hit the opponent with that attack, the landing'll kill her._ Alex thought, noticing the jump.

"Hiyaaaaa!" Medicham roared and her foot connected _hard_ with the bronzong's face. It was ground into the stone beneath it, undeniably down for the count.

The giant in the back meanwhile, had been stomping forward at a very slow pace, its footsteps very heavy and comparable to the quaking Groudon's had generated.

_Even if that was merely an illusion…_ Alex reminded himself.

The giant clenched a massive fist; the power seemed almost visible as it gathered strength. With its positioning, the fist was clearly aimed at Gardevoir, who seemed to be frozen in some amount of terror.

The white giant then swung hard and Gardevoir sincerely attempted to evade the powerful attack, however it proved so immensely powerful, that it didn't actually need to hit directly (if it had, Gardevoir would've been history).

There was an earth-shattering and deafening crash! Rock and fragments of stone flew up in a storm, Alex raised an arm to shield his eyes, and Gardevoir screamed as she was knocked away by the explosion of power.

When the dust cleared, the giant lifted its fist from the crater in the ground and stood up again. Lopunny and Medicham immediately ran to check on their companion, alarmed.

To Alex's relief, Gardevoir pushed herself up off the ground.

_Whew… she's still good to go then…_

He looked over the enemy ranks again. Three bronzong (two on their half, one on Team Charm's) and one paralyzed hitmonlee, plus the white giant with a terrifying punch.

Medicham slammed the remaining bronzong with her hand, finishing it. Lopunny was digging in their treasure bag for an oran berry for Gardevoir.

Alex acted quickly before the bronzong on their half of the field could attack again, unloading another powerful electrical blast in all directions. This took out one and Eve tackled the other, finishing it as well. The only remaining hitmonlee was still having difficulty just walking with its paralysis.

The white giant slowly turned towards Team Long Ears and, very slowly started walking towards them.

_Geez, so slow but so horribly powerful…_ Alex thought grimly.

Meanwhile, Lopunny was carefully helping Gardevoir to her feet while Medicham charged in to help defend Team Long Ears from the giant.

Eve was getting distracted and nervous from the giant's approach.

"What kind of pokemon is that anyways?" she said, her teeth clenched from nerves. Gardevoir heard her apparently as she called over to them:

"It's Regigigas! It takes it a while for it to get going but we might be able to take it down if we can do it before it gets up to full power!"

Alex darted at the last hitmonlee, slamming it and eliminating the last of the small-time pokemon that were their opponents.

_Regigigas eh? Well, here goes would could be a very hard fight…_

It reared back, preparing its massive fist for another explosively powerful attack.

Eve backed off as the attack was aimed at Alex. Attempting to stop it could result in both of them getting hit.

Alex immediately could tell as the giant towered over him, why Gardevoir had been frozen in place. This thing was a titan and it was about to attempt to flatten his comparatively insignificant self under its hand.

_This must be what a fly feels like when someone's about to try and swat it._

He smirked though as the fist started towards him.

_Flies though, are evasive. And so am I._

He darted to the side on all fours, running as fast as he could force himself to run. Gardevoir hadn't any hope of running this fast without help but this speed was no trouble for Alex.

The fist came down like a meteor, causing another explosion of sheer power that caused the ground to crack and countless splinters of rock and stone and fly into the air. Just the shock wave knocked Alex off his feet.

After enduring this though, Alex noticed how the attack's power seemed to have dropped from its previous ferocity. The ground didn't seem to shake nearly as much.

Medicham jumped over the shockwave in a massive leap and came down on Regigigas in a driving kick.

Regigigas, unprepared as it was for the hit, staggered under this impact but managed to get to its feet again, albeit slowly.

Eve slapped loose sand and bits of shattered stone at the giant's face, hoping to blind it slightly.

Alex darted at it, going faster and blurring until his illusory self appeared.

Regigigas seemed a bit confused at this point and looked around.

Medicham attacked again, slapping its torso with her comparatively tiny hand. The impact caused it to stagger yet again and Alex shocked it once more, working with Medicham to pour on all the damage they could.

It raised one flat-bottomed foot and attempted to stomp on Alex but it ended up hitting his illusory self and Medicham laughed in triumph as she slapped it again, using the same power she had been using the every time. Regigigas finally staggered to one knee and then collapsed in a massive, face-down heap on the ground.

"How were you doing so much damage with your hand anyways?" Alex asked Medicham as he came to a halt.

Medicham looked beside herself with pleasure.

"Force Palm. One of my personal favorites." She explained, grinning widely.

Lopunny came up to them a moment later, supporting Gardevoir over one shoulder. Looking at her, Alex felt his own fatigue start taking its toll on him and he sagged, exhausted.

"Easy there girl…" Lopunny said to her partner, wearing a kind smile. Gardevoir was breathing hard but smiling as well.

"You're okay then?" Alex asked her. Gardevoir nodded.

"We did it. We defeated Regigigas." Eve breathed, exhilarated.

Then with a bright glowing flash, a massive, standing tablet of stone appeared in the center of the chamber.

"What's this? We have to spell out another word or something?" Alex said, stepping around the massive slab to the front of it.

Inscribed on the front of the tablet was a simple set of instructions:

"To open the way to treasure, close your eyes and allow your aura to flow into the ground."

Alex raised an eyebrow after reading this aloud and glanced at the others. His ear flopped over his eye again as they all nodded in agreement.

_Alright then…_

Alex slowed his breathing, calming his heart, and pushing his ear out of his face. His heart was still pounding from the fight they had just finished. As the beat settled, he slowly closed his eyes.

It was an odd feeling. Alex could feel an energy that he imagined was his aura flowing around him.

_I guess it's the room that's drawing it out._

The aura was automatically getting drained into the ground, which was mildly exhausting to Alex but it soon stopped and Alex opened his eyes as it stopped.

No sooner had he opened his eyes, then a brown wave of energy burst from the base of the tablet, sweeping the room. It startled them but the wave did no harm. Then there was a low crunch.

"Whoa! Look out! Regigigas is standing up!"

"What? Another fight?" Alex yelled in disbelief.

He could see even from the other side of the slab as the white giant arose. However, rather than attacking them, it jumped into the air (an amazing feat in itself, given its mass) and slammed its hand into the ground at its feet, far from hitting anyone.

This caused a massive quake that shook the entire cave.

They all managed to stay on their feet but immediately ran from the cave with a panicked yell. They had no desire to be buried alive by the cave collasping.

o0o

Several minutes of frenzied running and they escaped outside the cave. Gardevoir was running on her own by this point and was the last one out.

"Everyone out?" Alex breathed, looking back. Loudred and the other guildmembers were already outside, staring at something else in awe.

Amazingly enough Aegis Cave actually showed no sign of collapse but Lopunny pointed out what Loudred and the others were staring at, cutting Alex's observations short.

"Look! A new dungeon!" she cried out excitedly, pointing at a massive cliff that hadn't been present when they had arrived. At the base of the cliff was a small cave entrance.

"Did Regigigas cause that to appear?" Eve said, her eyes wide in astonishment.

Medicham, Lopunny, and Gardevoir's eyes were all shining with excitement. Team Charm then gathered with each other and started to celebrate the discovery in their excitement.

"Another successful exploration." Medicham was saying, a bright grin plastered across her face.

Alex couldn't help smiling as well, seeing the trio so happy and Eve watched as well.

Lopunny calmed a bit though and looked over at them:

"But it isn't our success. It's yours." She said, her smile sincerely congratulating their work "Good job, Team Long Ears."

"Yep," Medicham agreed "That dungeon's all yours to tackle when you're ready. We'll leave it to you."

"Thanks Team Charm." Alex said, unsure how to show his gratitude for their help.

"We couldn't have done it without you." Eve said, nodding.

"See you around." Lopunny giggled and then gave Alex a playful wink "By the way, you're real cute when your ear's hanging in front of your face. Like it is now." She finished with an amused giggle. Indeed, his ear had flopped over his eye again as his heart skipped a beat. Eve laughed and nudged him, snapping him out of the charmed stupor.

And with that, Team Charm left.


	49. Finding Drowzee Again

_**If you're curious about that newest dungeon, I'm sorry to disappoint, but that's just a little side dungeon that's optional in the game. I'm going to get into the main story now.**_

_**This is where things are going to get very dark.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 48: Finding Drowzee Again

Before they went to explore the new dungeon that had arisen from the ground (thanks to Regigigas), Alex and Eve decided to head back to town and rest up.

Both of them had fairly severe injuries from the fight with the small army and needed their rest. Back at home.

Evening was coming around the day they arrived at Treasure Town again. However, this was no pleasant evening. A storm was on the rise. The wind was picking up and it would be thundering by the time the sun went down completely.

Team Long Ears quickly took shelter in their home and covered up the entrance (the covering was fairly heavy so hurricane-force winds would be required to blow it away). The storm wasn't a hurricane so there was no concern for that.

They had applied bandages to the wounds that called for them and settled down on their beds.

"Quite an adventure with Team Charm, eh Alex?" Eve said as she plopped herself down on her bed.

"Yeah. Getting kicked and clawed is no picnic but hey: all in a day's work, right?" he gave his partner a smile.

"Yeah. I'm dead-tired. 'Night." And Eve curled up and immediately was asleep.

Alex himself also yawned and laid back, wondering what kind of treasure that dungeon might hold.

As he fell asleep, he didn't know they wouldn't be exploring that dungeon anytime soon.

o0o

As Alex slept, he had visions of twisting and fluxing colors again.

_This seems familiar…_ he thought, rather consciously in the dream.

That's when Cresselia appeared, much to Alex's surprise.

"_Cresselia! You're here? Where have you been?"_ Alex thought to her, he'd nearly forgotten about her in fact.

"I've been busy." Cresselia answered "But now, I have a bit more time to talk with you."

"_I've been wanting to talk as well."_ Alex agreed "_What was it you were trying to tell me last time? You said me and Eve were driving the world towards ruin?_"

"Yes." She answered sternly "You and Eve are driving the world towards destruction. With your very existence."

Alex was, needless to say, a little shocked.

"_How? We haven't done anything._"

"You distort space. That distortion is growing." Cresselia said, "If it isn't stopped, everyone around the world will be engulfed in the darkness."

Alex's memory immediately recalled the experience at Luminous Spring. Cresselia nodded, seeing the memory flash through Alex's mind.

"Yes, that's correct. That distortion is generating a great darkness and as I said: it's spreading."

Cresselia flashed, the light causing Alex pain and causing him to flinch and cry out even in his sleep.

"That's why you must be eliminated." Cresselia said sharply and flashed again, causing Alex pain once more.

"You must be _destroyed!_" She insisted and the light glaring from her seemed like it would wipe Alex away. Alex screamed from the pain.

Then there was a loud crack and the roar of thunder causing Alex to shoot upright in bed, his scream stopping as he realized he was awake.

His heart was pounding harder than it ever had before and he could swear his entire body was still in pain from the harsh light hitting him. He was actually breathing hard and he was covered in an uncomfortable sweat.

_Just a dream… right?_ He assured himself. However, his thoughts weren't much comfort. It had felt all too real. He closed his eyes, willing himself to relax.

_Just the thunder and lightning… it's just the storm…_ he assured himself and managed to calm down.

Once he had calmed down, he glanced over at Eve, who was quietly snoring away, blissfully unaware of his nightmares.

_Yeah… just a bad dream… shouldn't bother Eve about such a thing…_

He settled back down to sleep. He didn't drop off again for several minutes.

o0o

The next morning, they got up, Eve immediately giving him a bright smile. The storm had blown itself out over the night and the sun shown brightly outside.

"Good morning Alex. Let's go do some good today."

This was her usual morning greeting to her partner but Alex noticed she seemed to be even cheerier today.

_Must be the dungeon we're going to explore._ Alex figured. His mind was still stuck on the words he had had with Cresselia last night though. He rubbed his eyes, trying to wipe away any drowsiness.

He didn't notice Eve's pained expression that appeared while he wasn't looking.

o0o

As they were coming out of their base, Marill came running up to them.

"Hey, Marill. What's up?" Eve asked with a warm smile.

"Team Long Ears, I need your help! It's Azurill. He's in trouble." Marill said with a very worried frown.

"W-where he is?" Eve said, a little startled with this news so early in the morning.

"He's at the guild right now. C'mon!"

Alex blinked, a little confused.

_How can Azurill be in trouble… yet, be at the guild? Did he get into a fight with someone?_

The idea of Azurill fighting with anyone was ridiculous and Alex quickly realized they'd have to just go with Marill and go find out what was the matter.

Thus, the three of them headed for the guild.

o0o

Azurill was in Alex and Eve's former bedroom, where they had slept before graduation.

Once again, Alex was a bit confused when he saw that Azurill was perfectly unharmed and no one seemed to be fighting with him or hurting him in any way. Chatot, Chimecho, and Bidoof were watching over him. Even Sheriff Magnezone was present.

"He won't wake up." Marill explained.

Indeed, Azurill was quite asleep. In fact, he was tossing and turning and looked like he would've liked to wake up as it looked as if his dreams were none too pleasant. He was moaning in his sleep. Alex blinked in some disbelief.

"He can't wake up?"

"I've tried everything I can think of." Marill explained, "Chesto berries, making an uproar… everything. He won't wake up no matter what I do. I was hoping the two of you might have an idea of what to do."

Alex and Eve looked over Azurill but neither of them had any idea of what to do either. Alex voiced his opinion though:

"Well, I haven't the slightest clue but if we could see what kind of dream he's having that might provide some answers." Alex suggested.

"Oof… I don't know about that. Looks like he's having a nightmare…" Bidoof said, his brow creased with worry for Azurill. Chatot considered Alex's words though.

"There might actually be a way to see into his dreams." Chatot immediately had everyone's attention, "The pokemon Drowzee… they're rumored to be able to see into dreams. Usually they use that ability to consider eating those dreams but in this case, if we could get one to help, we could see what the dream is about."

They all knew of only one Drowzee.

"Remember Alex?" Eve said "The first outlaw we ever arrested?"

Alex remembered alright. Asking that Drowzee for help seemed like an effort that could easily prove futile. Magnezone remembered as well and spoke:

"DROWZEE HAS ALREADY BEEN RELEASED. HE ADMITTED TO ALL CRIMES AND SWORE NEVER TO DO THEM AGAIN."

Alex raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"A little fast to be letting him loose again, don't you think?" Alex asked.

"WHEN WE RELEASED HIM, HE SAID HE WOULD GO TO MT. TRAVAIL TO MEDITATE AND CLEANSE HIS SPIRIT."

"So we'll find him at Mt. Travail then…" Eve murmured. Chatot pointed out the mountain on their wonder map, which was a considerable distance away: pretty much on the other side of the continent, beyond Mt. Horn.

"He's our only lead right now so I guess we'd better go find him." Alex said with a sigh. He wasn't sure if Drowzee would cooperate and dragging Drowzee back against his will wouldn't get them anywhere.

"I think it had best be just the two of us too, Alex." Eve added in, "If a whole group of pokemon came, I think he'd panic and just one of us probably won't cut it."

This sounded reasonable to Alex so he nodded and, everyone bidding them good luck as they headed out, they set their sights for Mt. Travail.

o0o

Mt. Travail was a decently difficult climb. It was certainly harder than Mt. Bristle, which Alex was uncomfortably reminded of, given the type of location and their objective.

Unfriendly ursaring were found up on the mountain and it was frequently very cloudy up there. Alex's electrical attacks seemed weaker and strangely, so did Eve's biting attacks. Sometimes, they ended up going into the clouds, which basically turned conditions to fog but they continued on their way up.

They also came across flying- and fighting-types up there as well.

Given that he was psychic-type, it didn't surprise Alex too much that Drowzee hadn't had too much trouble getting up this mountain.

_Certainly, if he's stronger than he was before, he'd have a field day with all these fighting-types._

There were many mankey, primeape (two furious monkey pokemon), and hitmonchan (which looked like a human boxer… with a lightning-fast punch) among others.

Team Long Ears got about three-quarters of the way up the mountain before Alex felt a need to rest a bit and eat. As usual though, they kept alert for unfriendly residents.

"So… what do we say to Drowzee? 'Hi, nice to see you again'?" Alex was breathing a bit hard from the hard journey up and the thinning air.

"We tell him we need his help and why." Eve said with a shrug, "I'm really not sure how else to go about it. We'll just have to see when we find him."

Alex honestly felt a bit nervous about finding Drowzee. He had little doubt Drowzee would remember them and that was what had him concerned. However if someone else had come, Drowzee could easily refuse to them. It was a very iffy situation and Alex had to admit: the direction events took rested entirely on Drowzee's decision when they presented it to him.

"You're right, Eve. We'll just have to see." Alex confessed. They rested a bit longer, until a fearow flying by decided to pester them. Alex quickly fried the over-sized bird and they continued on their way up Mt. Travail.

o0o

About another hour of climbing, and they arrived at a point very close to the mountain peak, where they could see the horizon and the landscape stretched below. And standing near the cliff edge, his hands clasped and head bowed in peaceful meditation, was Drowzee.

The former outlaw heard them come and looked back. His reaction to see them was as Alex had expected: he was immediately panic-stricken.

"Y-you two?" he yelped "I-I-I haven't done anything! I've kept my nose clean!" he stammered quickly.

"Easy Drowzee, we're not here to arrest you." Alex said calmly, his paws raised in a sign of peace.

Drowzee still looked tense but didn't run or anything.

"We need your help Drowzee." Eve said, her tone slightly pleading. Drowzee's panic was replaced by curiosity.

"My help?" he repeated, blinking in surprise.

"Azurill's experiencing some sort of nightmare and he can't wake up. We were hoping you might be able to look into the dream and help us figure out what's wrong."

Drowzee listened, lowering his arms from their defensive stance. When Eve finished, he grimaced.

"So that kid I… I kidnapped… he's in trouble, is he?" Drowzee said quietly.

Drowzee spent a moment thinking and his expression changed to one of guilt.

"What I did to him… way back then… that was terrible of me…"

Alex felt some happiness and relief at the direction Drowzee's attitude was taking and he smiled at Drowzee's next words:

"I'd like to try and do what I can to make it up to him. I'll go."

"Thank you, Drowzee." Alex said kindly and the three of them headed down the mountain for Treasure Town.

_Just hold on Azurill._


	50. The Nightmare

_**Okay, so what if things are dark? There's also some hope to be seen somewhere. Another one of those somewhat touching scenes here. I guess I can't resist...**_

_**Enjoy.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 49: The Nightmare

The three of them arrived at Treasure Town again and they led Drowzee to the Guild.

There were some whispers, wondering if what they were doing would work as they passed and headed into the old bedroom.

"Alright…" Drowzee said after taking a moment to prepare himself "Give me a few minutes to take a look around and I should be able to tell you something about this kid's dream."

What followed were several minutes of silence, as Drowzee seemed to just stare at Azurill, who continued to toss and turn about on the bed. Alex could somewhat feel the psychic power streaming from Drowzee… or perhaps it was his imagination and tension.

When Drowzee's head shifted and he blinked a few times, they immediately asked about what he'd seen.

Drowzee's mouth was a firm line and he looked uneasy.

"You two," he said, addressing Team Long Ears "Go get yourselves ready for exploration. When you come back, I can send you into this kid's dream."

"Whoa… you can do that?" Alex said, impressed.

"Yeah…" Drowzee nodded "But I suggest you prepare yourself for anything. I'm only going to send the two of you. I don't know what you might run into in there but I don't like this…"

Drowzee's expression was dead serious. Something was scaring him slightly and it was showing in his stern expression. He glanced at the restlessly sleeping Azurill again.

"I don't know what's wrong with the kid but something's off about this dream of his. It feels like something's…" Drowzee paused, trying to think of the proper wording to use, "Like something's gone wrong…"

Alex wasn't sure what he meant by that but he and Eve headed out to Treasure Town and packed for exploration.

o0o

"Something's gone wrong…" Alex murmured to himself as they headed back towards the guild "What do you suppose he meant?" Alex asked his partner.

"I don't know… I just want to help Azurill right now. Maybe we can wake him up from inside the dream? I just don't know." She said shaking her head as she spoke.

They were soon back in the bedroom and Drowzee was waiting.

"Alright. All prepared then?" Drowzee asked, confirming their readiness.

Alex breathed in and then out.

"Yeah… I think we're about as prepared as we'll ever be."

"Let me warn you again: be prepared for anything in there." Drowzee said, "Just focus on going as deep as you can. Whatever's going on, I figure the problem is going to be at the heart of the matter. All right… here we go…"

Drowzee focused his gaze on them and a purple beam of psychic energy enveloped the team. Drowzee then directed a small purple orb into Azurill.

o0o

Alex and Eve felt as if they had been dragged upwards into the purple light and it dropped them back down. When the light cleared, they were in a completely new location.

A shiver ran up and down Alex's spine… just looking around the area made him feel uneasy and he could feel why Drowzee had said something seemed off.

They seemed to be standing on purple clouds. The clouds had the occasional dark clump of something solid in them here and there. There were two features about this dream though that unsettled Alex:

First was that it was extremely dark. Where there wasn't purple cloud, there appeared to be a pitch black fog that Alex had no desire to even touch if he could help it.  
>The second was the sheer silence in the dream. It felt empty in so many ways and it didn't feel like something that belonged in the dreams of a child like Azurill. Both of these features reminded Alex very uncomfortably of the future when time had been frozen.<p>

"_Team Long Ears._" Drowzee's voice echoed in from the air. They glanced up towards the black "sky", listening.

"_This is as far in as I can send you. You'll need to continue on your own. I'll keep an eye on things out here. Be careful._"

Alex nodded towards the air and turned towards the purple clouds ahead.

"Well, let's go Eve." He said, a nameless fear causing his heart to speed up.

They proceeded forward into the dream.

o0o

They encountered a number of normal-type pokemon in the nightmare. The problem with dealing with many of these pokemon was the lack of weaknesses they had and the surplus of endurance many had along with that. Blissey for example, which were large, egg-shaped pokemon with little frills that made them look like nursemaids, were particularly slow to fall. The smile on their faces seemed too unnatural and eerie in the dreamscape.

Another annoying one was miltank, effectively a two-legged milk cow-pokemon. It seemed to like drinking its own milk, which pepped it back up from their attacks and Alex and his partner would end up wasting energy on it, much to his annoyance. He wised up after only one session like this and paralyzed the next miltank to confront them before assaulting it.

There were numerous other normal-types but those were a couple of the harder ones to deal with. Others weren't quite so difficult and went down a bit easier.

They also were encountering psychic-types every now and then as well. One was (according to Eve) an evolution of her own species: espeon. Alex figured it might've been the surrounding darkness and silence but he found espeon to be a little creepy.

The evolution was a gentle pink, featured a slender, forked tail (it split into two partway towards the tip) and had very large ears with large clumps of fur sticking out to the sides underneath each one. There was a single red gem on an espeon's forehead and the eyes seemed to pierce his own.

Alex made eye contact with one at some point and immediately got slammed by psychic force. He quickly counter-attacked and Eve jumped in, biting to support him. The espeon went down rather fast.

"I think if we ever get to evolve… I'll ask that you don't choose that one…" Alex said, massaging his head "I really don't need a reminder of this place."

Eve readily agreed to this and they continued deeper into the mystery dungeon.

o0o

They continued deeper until they found themselves only traveling down a simple, wide hallway of sorts. Dark fog sat at either side of the path and the way ahead seemed endless.

"Is this the deepest part?" Alex said, looking around. Things hadn't changed:

It was still dark. It was still as silent as a grave.

Then a voice from somewhere spoke and Alex recognized it immediately.

"Hm? You two? How'd you get here?"

"Cresselia?" Alex said… and to his surprise, so did Eve.

Cresselia appeared in a flash of light.

"Well, well…" she said, sounding pleasantly surprised "I was just investigating and look who I come across."

"Cresselia!" Eve said, sounding desperate "Is it really true? We have to be eliminated?"

_Eve's been having the same dreams as me?_ Alex blinked as he looked at his partner in his surprise. It was the only explaination he could think of right then for his partner's knowledge.

"Isn't this place evidence enough for you?" Cresselia said, glancing around at the dark dreamscape.

"What do you mean?" Alex said, the fear he had been feeling at the beginning arising again.

"As I explained to both of you, the distortion of space you two are generating is growing and spreading a darkness across the land. This is what happens when a pokemon is touched by that darkness. They're locked into a nightmare… never-ending and unable to wake up. If things continue as they are, soon all pokemon across the world will be like this."

Alex's heart dropped out. Just thinking about a fate like this was uncomfortable.

"The fact that I've found you here though is ever so convenient." Cresselia said with a small smile "I can deal with you right here."

"Cresselia… isn't there another way?" Eve asked hesitantly.

"No. There's no other way. You both must be taken out." Cresselia said coldly and advanced on them.

Alex was frozen and Eve was clearly unwilling to fight back. He didn't know whether to fight back or not.

_If I do, I'll be dooming everyone to this fate. But I don't want to die either._

Cresselia had been about to attack but her eyes flashed and she quickly backed off.

"Tch…" she sounded very annoyed as she growled to herself "So close… interference…"

And with that, she vanished. Then a voice came from behind them and they both immediately recognized Drowzee's voice.

"Hoy! Team Long Ears!"

Drowzee came walking up from the direction they had come from.

"You were taking a long time so I came looking for you."

Alex found it seemed he could breath again. Eve was mildly surprised to see Drowzee.

"I had to run most of the way. Hard place…" Drowzee said, his breathing coming a bit hard, "Anyways, I don't think there's anything here and I'm getting a bad feeling from this area so let's go back."

Alex and his partner didn't argue and Drowzee's purple beam enveloped all three of them.

o0o

They were soon back outside of Azurill's dream and in the bedroom. Azurill was still trapped in his nightmare.

"So, did ya find anything?" Bidoof asked as they returned. Alex wasn't sure what to say.

"I… we found Cresselia in there." Eve admitted.

Chatot blinked.

"Cresselia? She is a legendary pokemon. It's said she represents the crescent moon and her light soothes those in pain. I'm amazed you saw her."

_Funny… must be a bad legend about her…_ Alex thought miserably, _I've never found that light of hers anywhere near soothing._

"Did… did she say anything about how to help this kid?" Drowzee asked hopefully.

"_No! No_!" Eve lied quickly and much more loudly than necessary "She didn't say anything about that!"

Her immediate and loud reaction made Drowzee jump.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly "I was just asking…"

There were several moments of discussion between everyone else. The only information they had gotten about how to cure Azurill's condition, Alex and Eve were keeping to themselves and didn't wish to share.

"Um… we're kinda tuckered out after that exploration…" Eve said, her ears drooping "We're going to head back home. Um, thanks for your help Drowzee…"

Alex didn't argue with her and they left the room.

o0o

Once they were back at their home-base (the sun was beginning to go down), Eve groaned.

"I just lied outright back there!" she exclaimed as if she couldn't believe it "I didn't even think about it! One big lie!"

"I can't really blame you Eve…" Alex murmured, his thoughts scrambled.

"So what do we do then? I don't want to do this to everyone. Do we just… _vanish_ from this world?" her tone was hopeless.

She used the word "vanish" but Alex could tell she was avoiding using an alternative word that made the prospect much harder to think about. He couldn't think of what to say in response.

"Argh…" Eve groaned again "I'm just going to get some sleep."

She flopped down onto her stomach on the bed and immediately started trying to go to sleep.

Unsure of what else to do, Alex settled down on his own bed and tried to get to sleep himself.

o0o

Alex's dreams were undisturbed by Cresselia that night but going to bed so early resulted in him waking up earlier as well. It was still dark out when he woke up and looked around.

He noticed Eve's bed was empty.

He blinked in mild surprise and got up.

"Eve?" he quietly called around the cave. He was alone inside the cave.

He headed up the stairs and out of the cave.

Once outside, he glanced around and soon spotted his partner, sitting at the point of Sharpedo Bluff, watching the horizon. He walked over to her and she heard him coming.

"Hi Alex…" she said softly, her ears hanging at the sides of her head "I just couldn't sleep."

She heaved a sigh and looked up, her ears still hanging.

"I don't know what to think anymore. If we live on… everyone else will be doomed to nightmares. If we don't… we save the world. I really don't want to go away… but we have to sacrifice ourselves to save the world again." Eve said sadly.

_It's hard to think straight for me as well…_ Alex admitted to himself, _What do we do now?_

Alex focused, his mind going over everything they had been told. In the end… he realized something didn't fit.

"It's backwards…" he murmured, actually perplexed.

"Huh?" Eve turned her head, her ears perking up in her surprise.

"Back when time was stopping…" Alex explained, speaking more audibly "My disappearance was a result of saving the world. It was unavoidable then. This time it's different."

"How?" Eve said, raising an eyebrow.

"We have a choice this time. This time… it's saving the world that results from our disappearance; not disappearing that results from saving the world. Like I said: it's backwards! How can we be sure that when we're gone, the world will really be saved? What if Cresselia's wrong about it being us that's the problem? And even if it _is_ us, what if there might be another way where we don't have to disappear? Eve, maybe we can still find that other way!" Alex's tone became excited as the hope became much clearer to him as well as he explained it. It was a lot of "what-ifs" but so long as there was the possibility, Alex wasn't letting go of the hope, however unlikely it might've been.

Eve blinked, astonished at this thought…

It was about then that the sun started to rise behind them and they both glanced back, feeling the first rays of the light hitting them. The warmth felt so refreshing to both of them.

"That reminds me…" Eve started "This all reminds me of our first night back from the future with Grovyle. Me and Grovyle talked out here then."

Having been asleep at that time, this was news to Alex.

"We started to talk about you, Alex."

"_Me?"_ Alex blinked, mildly astonished that he had been a topic of conversation.

"Grovyle asked me then why I hadn't ever given up. Even under the hopeless situations we had been through."

"So… what did you tell him then?" Alex asked, curious.

"I told him… it was because of you…" Eve said, looking him directly in the eyes as she finished. Alex was dumbstruck and found himself feeling very touched.

"Every time we've faced a difficult choice… you've always provided me with courage Alex. It's why I don't ever want to lose you again. It's why I say I can do anything… so long as you're with me."  
>Alex swallowed, lost for words. His partner stood up, her ears upright again and a kind smile on her face.<p>

"I'm not going to give up now either. I think you're right. There's got to be another way somewhere out there. We just have to find it!"

"Eve…" Alex murmured, a smile spreading on his face. Before he really knew what he was doing, he suddenly stepped forward and hugged his partner about the neck.

Eve was a bit startled but laughed.

"Alex! What are you doing?" she giggled.

"I…" Alex started, his throat feeling dry "I'm just glad to have you for my partner." He said, with sincere gratitude. He didn't care that he was crying. He wasn't even sure why.

Eve allowed him to hold her like this until he finally pulled away.

Judging from the heat on his own face and the slight pink Eve's was turning, Alex easily guessed that they were both abashed about the moment they'd just had.

"Well, let's get ready for the day," Alex said, his heart fluttering, "Then let's find a way to save Azurill."

Eve nodded and they exchanged an energetic high-five.


	51. Palkia

_**There's a lot to learn in the next chapter but in the meantime, there's a lot that's going to happen quite suddenly. This is more or less how things occur in the game and I couldn't think of how else to do it. **_

_**There'll be a lot of explaination in the next chapter.**_

_**Nonetheless, I hope I did well enough.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 50: Palkia

As the two of them prepared for the day ahead, Eve had an idea.

"Hey Alex… Cresselia was saying the reason the nightmares are appearing is that there's a distortion of space, right?"

Alex nodded. This was the core of the problem if it was true.

"Okay. I was thinking: last time, the problem was with time stopping and we had to find Dialga to fix that. So I was wondering if there might be someone like Dialga who watches over space."

"That does sound reasonable… the problem is, who would know something about _that_?" Alex said.

"Chatot?" Eve suggested. Alex grit his teeth… unwilling to attempt asking Chatot something like that.

"If we ask Chatot, he's going to want to know why. Then we'll have to explain ourselves and…" Alex shook his head, summing up his answer "No, we need someone a little more… apart from the pokemon of town and such. More private and less risky to ask."

Eve considered this more as they finished their morning preparations. Just before they headed out, Eve had an answer:

"Lapras! Lapras might know something."

Alex mulled this over briefly… Lapras could be trusted… there was a good chance she knew something and there was little risk of any suspicions getting around.

"Alright… but we probably ought to see about doing it in the evening when we can be sure to have a little more privacy."

Agreeing on this point, they headed out into town to research more possible ways to help Azurill wake up from his endless, restless slumber.

o0o

Evening came and they hadn't found any new information that seemed like it would help.

"Let's head down to the beach. Lapras should be there. I visited her earlier and arranged to chat with her about now." Alex said.

They arrived at the beach and Lapras was waiting.

"So, what did you wish to ask me?" Lapras said, polite curiosity in her tones. Eve asked the question:

"We were thinking: you know about Dialga and how he commands time, right? We need to find someone who can fix a distortion of space…"

Lapras was already gently shaking her head though.

"I'm sorry… but I do not know much. All I do know is that there is an entity similar to Dialga who rules over space itself. He is called Palkia. He dwells at a place known as Sky Rift. Before you ask: I do not know where Sky Rift is, much less how to get there." Eve closed her mouth as her question was answered before it was even out "I would not know how to find Palkia and unless you find a way to go to Sky Rift, I doubt you will be able to find him. I'm sorry." Lapras retained a gentle tone throughout her explanation.

"Well, thank you anyways Lapras." Alex said, giving their friend a grateful smile "At least we have a name to go by now…"

"I know what is happening… and I wish both of you luck." Lapras said with a nod. She then swam back into the ocean.

Alex's ears drooped as well as did Eve's with their disappointment after Lapras had disappeared under the water.

"So now what?" Alex said.

_True, we have a name but if we have no hope of finding Palkia, what's the point?_

"Well, it's getting late… I guess we'll just sleep on it and hope we come up with something over the night." Eve said, though her tone made it clear she doubted any answers would come.

o0o

That night, Team Long Ears was sound asleep.

Quite suddenly, there was a deafening roar which made them jump right up, startled.

"What the heck was that?" Alex yelped as he was forcibly woken up by the noise.

Then a giant yellow ball of pure energy soared into the cave through the "mouth" of the Bluff and hit the a spot of open ground in the cave with a loud crash. The ball of energy then broke open to reveal a giant of a pokemon that made Alex's stomach bottom out.

He vaguely remembered the murals they had seen with Grovyle back in the Hidden Land. The figure before them looked much like the one that had had its back to Dialga. It was much more menacing up close and personal like this. It didn't help that it was clearly furious.

Alex found it hard to describe how this pokemon looked but it stuck out in his mind how much white and pink there was. It stood on two legs and it's legs were entirely white. There were intricate pink lines etched across its white body and its neck was long, extending the pokemon's relatively small head out in front of it. For a moment, Alex thought the head was all mouth but a more attentive glance showed the face was behind the jaw-like head "parts", almost like it was a mask. The shoulders were rounded like discs and each had what looked like a pearl-like gem emblazoning the center. The claws on both its feet and hands were very sharp and looked lethal.

"**Finally! I've found you!"** the giant pokemon bellowed.

"W-what?" both explorers stammered in confusion.

"**I am Palkia! You will not escape me!**" the intruder declared loudly, then roared the gems on his shoulders glaring with power. Alex and his partner both cried out in surprise as the yellow energy from before enveloped all three of them. The ball hovered out of the cave back the way it had come and shot across the ocean.

o0o

Alex had no idea where they were while in the ball but it only took what felt like a minute or two and then the ball broke apart and they were deposited somewhere that Alex couldn't recognize at all. He and his partner were dumped right on their rears. Palkia landed on his feet.

"**Now that you're in my domain, there is no escape! I will end this **_**now**_**!**" Palkia snarled and stomped forward.

The suddenness of the event had sent Alex straight into panic and both of them scrambled to get away from Palkia, too panicked to do anything but run.

They soon came to an edge and had gotten to their feet. They were at a cliff and Palkia was still advancing on them in a mindless fury; trapped.

"W-wait! Wait a minute!" Alex yelled but Palkia reared back and swiped at them. Both stumbled back to try avoiding the attack and ended up tumbling right over the edge of the cliff, screaming as they fell.

o0o

Again, Alex wasn't sure how far they went but it seemed like they fell several feet and landed hard on solid ground. It amazed him that neither of them broke any bones in their landing.

"Ow… what the heck is going on?" Eve groaned, getting up.

"Well, we found Palkia…" Alex said with a nervous laugh "Or rather he came and found us."

_But why has he come now? Why didn't he show up sooner?_ Alex was wondering but there weren't any answers he could think of immediately.

"I don't think he'll listen to reason Alex." Eve said, looking around nervously "We need to get going and try to find some way out of here."

Alex didn't argue with this and they immediately started to run.

o0o

Looking around, Alex finally got a better idea of where they were from the surrounding.

They were somewhere very dark and they seemed to be running across black clouds (or something that looked very much like black clouds). Alex felt he had no idea of where they were at first but then recalled that Palkia had said this was his domain.

"This is Sky Rift?"

"I guess." Eve said, "I'm more… concerned… with getting… out of here… and getting… back home… right now, Alex." She said, breathing quickly as she ran.

Alex didn't bother her further with talk while they ran.

After a unknown amount of time spent running, they ended up at a dead end.

"Crap!" Alex spat.

"Quick, let's go another way!" Eve started.

Then with a loud crash, the familiar ball of energy came down and broke apart to reveal Palkia, still livid with them.

"**I've already told you: this is my domain! There is no escape!**"

Alex groaned.

"We're just going to have to fight him and get him to calm down enough to talk."

Eve looked nervous about doing this but she posed herself to fight.

Palkia promptly roared and expelled a wave of sheer power. The ground and everything seemed to twist and tear as the wave hit. Alex attempted to jump over the wave and Eve ran from it.

By some miracle, they avoided it and Alex sent a weak electric shock at Palkia, attempting to paralyze the lord of space.

Eve charged back in as the rending wave of energy died out and attempted to tackle Palkia, who was struggling furiously with the paralysis he was experiencing.

"Palkia, will you listen for just a minute?" Alex yelled again but their opponent continued to only get more furious.

Alex shocked the legendary pokemon again, stronger this time and Eve bit Palkia's leg.

Palkia quite abruptly shook off the paralysis and lunged forward at Alex with his claws. Alex screamed as he was shredded by the attack.

Eve bit their opponent again, which seemed to only further aggravate him.

Again, the lord of space roared, emitting a powerful force, this time causing bits of the clouds to levitate like with Registeel and its "cousins", and the cloud-rocks pitched themselves at Eve.

The rocks pummeled Eve and she stubbornly attacked Palkia again ignoring her own conditions, trying to wear him down.

The lord of space snarled and swiped at Eve, knocking her away.

Alex worked himself back to his feet. Eve was getting hurt. He forgot anything to do with sacrificing themselves to save the world about then.

"Eve's not going to get hurt or die… not on my watch." Alex growled and charged.

Palkia expelled a watery blast at Alex, which he ducked under in his charge and then he let out a war cry, unleashing a huge blast of electricity straight up.

The electricity then dropped out of the sky like a missile, hitting Palkia squarely over the head.

Palkia roared in outrage and looked ready to blast Alex with space-rending power-

_***SNAP***_

Abruptly, Palkia froze in place like a statue. Alex had braced himself to avoid the attack the best he could but this was rendered unnecessary. Alex blinked, his anger vanishing to be replaced by complete bemusement.

"What just happened?" he muttered, staring at Palkia, who showed no sign of moving though he looked ready to attack.

_First he comes at an abducts us from home out of the blue. Now he freezes in place like this. What the heck is going on?_

Eve limped up to him, nursing the wound from getting knocked away.

"I thought it was you that did that…" she said, just as puzzled.

"No… I just used a lot of electricity." Alex said, shaking his head "It's like Palkia got frozen in time or something…"

"_Palkia is locked into a nightmare…_" a voice from somewhere around them spoke "_He has been overwhelmed by darkness."_ It didn't sound like anyone they had heard before. The two explorers immediately looked for the speaker but couldn't see anyone.

"_Do you wish to know the truth?_" The voice asked them.

"Yes!" Alex yelled out immediately. If they had the truth, they could find out how to stop everyone being locked into nightmares. They could save the world from disaster. There were too many unexplained occurances and not enough answers to those questions.

"_Then you must enter Palkia's nightmare. Will you enter?_" The voice asked again.

Alex hesitated here. Eve also didn't look like she wanted to enter another nightmare. However, if it was the only way they were going to get the truth, they'd have to go in.

"Alright… we'll go." Alex said, mentally bracing himself for anything they might learn within. Eve got closer to him, looking to him for support.

"_Very well…_" the voice said and out of nowhere, the familiar purple beam dragged them into Palkia's nightmare.

###

_**About the only thing I really changed is the whole sequence at Sky Rift. Normally, in the game, you'd go through a mystery dungeon. In my story here though, I've changed that to make the whole chase from Palkia seem a bit more realistic.**_


	52. The Mastermind

_**Due to the confusion and suddenness of all the events in the last chapter, I'm also putting up this one as well with it.**_

_**Hopefully, I clear up everything without being too contrived about it, 'cause there's not that much I can change.**_

**_Enjoy._**

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 51: The Mastermind

Alex and his partner were deposited in a small, circular room that looked much like the rest of Sky Rift. Being that the location was Palkia's home and domain, it made some sense to find the same type of world in his dreams.

Palkia was surprised to see them.

"**_You_? Where is this?**" the lord of space was clearly confused.

"This… this a nightmare Palkia." Eve said, her tone making it clear she couldn't understand how he didn't know it was a dream or nightmare.

"**What?**" Palkia bellowed, his rage returning "**You infest even my dreams? As if it weren't enough you infuriate me with your disruption of space!**"

"Palkia! That _isn't_ our fault!" Alex said sharply, intent to be heard.

"**So you claim you do not disrupt space? I am the lord of space itself! Matter bends to my will! You think you can lie to me about such matters?**"

"We aren't doing it on purpose!" Alex yelled back "In fact, we were hoping you could do something about it!"

"**You think I haven't tried _already_? It is an affront to me in every way. And most annoying of all it somehow defies even **_**my**_** power!_ And it is growing every day_!**" Palkia's utter aggravation and frustration with this distortion of space was only too clear in his tones "**Is this... _vileness_ not your doing?**" he demanded again (spitting "vileness" as if the distortion itself was sickening), giving them a furious glare.

"No… it's not. Please, believe us. We aren't doing this on purpose." Alex said, trying to help Palkia calm down now. "Like I said: we've been trying to find a way to fix it as well. The only solution we've had though is to be removed from this world."

The ruler of space seemed to calm down and when he spoke again, it was still loud but it was due to his mass more than anger.

"**I was told about your connection to the distortion of space only yesterday. Had I known before, I would've hunted you down then.**" Palkia explained and then glanced away from them "**I am sorry for you two. I can not see any other way to rid the world of this spatial distortion.**"

"Correct…" a familiar voice spoke and with a small flash, Cresselia was a little ways behind Palkia.

"So… is it really true? We have to… disappear?" Eve said, avoiding any words of "death".

"There is no other way." Cresselia said firmly. Eve's ears fell and she appeared to have given herself over to sacrifice to save the world. Alex was tempted to as well. They were out of time; Cresselia advanced on them.

"For the good of the world." She said calmly.

"**Are you really certain Cresselia?**" Palkia asked in a low voice. It wasn't hard to hear him though.

"**I have witnessed these two… they do not show themselves to be the evil pokemon you claim them to be.**" Palkia had hard doubt in his tones and Alex stiffened as he heard Palkia's words. Eve evidently wasn't paying attention though, as she did not react.

_What? Cresselia? She… she claimed… we're __evil__?_

Alex knew immediately something wasn't right. It was too obvious that something was wrong. Cresselia didn't seem to notice this though.

"Do not be fooled Palkia… they are skilled at lying." She said quietly but the words didn't escape Alex's ears. She quickly started to move to strike them down.

_There's something wrong here with Cresselia! I know it! Eve, we can't give up yet!_

Alex quickly moved to defend his partner from the impending attack.

There was a noise like swords clashing and Alex was momentarily blinded by light. No attack hit him. When he could see again… he blinked some more to be sure his vision wasn't suddenly screwed up. Palkia and Eve were also staring in shock.

There were two Cresselias. The one that had been about to try and kill them, and a new one that had her back to Alex and his partner, blocking her twin's blade-arm with her own.

"That's right Alex…" the new Cresselia said "As long as you never give up, there's always hope."

She whirled, slamming the other away and fired a blast of light at her twin, blinding everyone again for an instant.

Alex felt a strange "whoosh" and they were ejected from the nightmare, putting them back out into Sky Rift.

There was only one Cresselia now and she swiftly struck at the new pokemon that was now hovering, stunned before all of them.

"Graaa!" he hissed, getting knocked back and landing on the ground, breathing hard.

"I finally caught up to you, Darkrai!" Cresselia declared triumphantly.

Alex stared, taking in Darkrai's appearance.

He was a coal-black in color almost entirely; he would've been hard to spot in the dark. He was somewhat humanoid in shape, and oddly looked as if he were wearing some sort of black skirt. His shoulders had wispy trailing tendrils. He seemed to also have a pair of twisted, thin legs, which were unnecessary as he normally hovered. He also had arms that were just as deformed. His head was about the only thing that had something that wasn't a pure black. His head had a white extension that stretched a long ways up and back behind his head like an extremely tall cap. There was an odd necklace-like set of... things about his neck that were a blood-red and looked like fangs. His overall appearance would've been rather handsome, if it weren't strangely unsettling. Only one piercingly electric-blue eye was visible to the side of the white extension on his face, which was glaring hatefully at Cresselia.

"Alex, Eve, the Cresselia you thought were meeting all this time wasn't me." Cresselia said with barely a glance back at them "It was Darkrai here, impersonating me!"

"H-how'd he make himself look like you every time?" Eve stammered, her mind trying to catch up with events.

"Think about every time you met what you thought was me."

Alex reflected on this… and quickly realized the answer:

"It was always in a dream…" Alex had forgotten but even when they had met "in-person" it was in a nightmare, never in the waking world.

"Correct. Darkrai's domain is in dreams. He's been posing as me in an attempt to get rid of you two."

"Yes… that's correct." Darkrai admitted calmly, rising from the ground, his face shadowed now "I am the one responsible for the distortion of space." Palkia stepped forward, his anger flaring.

"You there… behind Cresselia." Darkrai said, clearly addressing Alex and Eve. Alex just continued to stare.

"I'll be waiting for you at the deepest part of Dark Crater. Come to me there. I promise you: I'll be waiting." A small smile graced Darkrai's face.

"You're not going anywhere!" Cresselia said quickly and darted forward to attack and subdue Darkrai but he vanished into shadow before she got within a foot of him.

"You will never catch me Cresselia." Darkrai's voice echoed coldly "_Not ever_…"

Cresselia looked around quickly, searching for her escaped quarry.

"_I'll be waiting at Dark Crater_." Darkrai's voice repeated and then he spoke no more.

Cresselia looked severely annoyed but she looked over at Alex and Eve and calmed down.

"I am sorry for all you two have been put through." She said sincerely "I saw him interacting with you all this time but I thought I could catch him before you were forced to get involved."

Palkia was murmuring to himself, his rage barely contained.

"This is no place to talk I'm afraid. We need to get both of you back to Treasure Town." Cresselia said softly.

Alex was looking over the real Cresselia before him… there was something markedly different about her from the imposter. Alex found the light seemed more gentle and, recalling Chatot's words about Cresselia, reconsidered the validity of that legend about her.

"Hey… how did you reveal Darkrai's true form like that?" Eve asked.

Cresselia smiled, understanding the questioning.

"Darkrai and myself are essentially opposites." She explained "He inflicts nightmares and foul dreams upon those asleep near him, trapping them in their dreams. I am capable of lifting his effects on them with my light and waking those rendered unable to wake up." She said, giving them a kind smile that Alex had never seen once on Darkrai's impersonation. Then the implications of her last statement struck him.

"Wait… you can wake someone up if they can't for some reason?"

"Yes." Cresselia confirmed.

Eve was realizing what they could do just as quickly.

"Let's get back to Treasure Town."

o0o

Palkia readily agreed to take them back as it was his actions that had brought them to Sky Rift in the first place. The giant legendary pokemon immediately headed back the way he had come.

"He's going off to try and contain the spacial distortion. He's staking his pride on his ability to do it so I don't believe we need to worry on that front."

Alex and Eve then immediately asked Cresselia to come to the Guild with them, which she agreed to do, politely curious what they wanted.

Cresselia understood as soon as she saw Azurill. She continued to smile gently as everyone watched. She raised a couple of very small hands she had and shone a ray of light on Azurill. After a few seconds of being bathed in this light, Azurill stopped thrashing in his sleep and blinked awake.

Marill was immediately overjoyed and related to Azurill all that they had been doing to try and help him, including Drowzee's attempts to help as well. All of this while they both showed relief at Azurill's return to well being. Azurill promptly thanked Cresselia.

He then turned to Drowzee, who was watching and bounded up to him.

"Thank you Mr. Drowzee." He said cheerily. Drowzee immediately flushed a bright pink.

"Oh… um… it was- it was nothing." He said, clearly a little surprised someone was thanking him, especially the child he had kidnapped once.

Marill also thanked the psychic-type as well and the three were quickly becoming good friends.

Meanwhile, Cresselia addressed the others.

"We need to have a town meeting so I may explain what Darkrai has been doing."

Everyone else was puzzled about who Cresselia was speaking of but they agreed to this and soon, they all headed towards the Town Square for the meeting.

o0o

Cresselia explained to everyone that she had been pursuing Darkrai for some months, trying to stop him as he had been trying to cloak the world in darkness.

"He has been maintaining a distortion of space for a long time now and helping it grow. I've noticed the effects and if we do not stop him soon and fix this distortion he's created, his power will overwhelm even mine."

"What about us?" Eve asked "We found out at Luminous Spring that we also generate a distortion." There was concern in her voice.

"True… you do produce a spatial distortion." Cresselia confirmed "However, that distortion is quite small… virtually insignificant in comparison. And furthermore, it won't grow on its own either. You two are completely innocent and have no connection to the problem at hand."

The Guildmaster stepped forward at this point.

"Alex, Eve. I told you before: you can trust your friends at the Guild." He said with a comforting smile on his face "We know you'd never mean to hurt anyone like this." His words weren't in chastisement, they were assurance.

Alex felt a slight pang of guilt over this. He had doubted that trust when he had refused to ask Chatot about anything. He'd been afraid they would be convicted by the guild of being the cause of the disaster.

Alex blinked, tears forming.

_I can't believe I doubted them… but... it's good to know we're innocent._ He wiped his eyes.

"Darkrai's the one who's to blame." Cresselia said, bringing them back to the matter at-hand.

"Why was he trying to frame us anyways?" Eve asked, perplexed.

"My guess would be that he's scared of you two." Cresselia answered.

Alex blinked away any remaining tears and looked up "Scared?"

"Yes… I've heard about the two of you. You've already stopped time from coming to a halt. That's no small feat. I'm sure Darkrai was afraid that you'd notice and then find some way to stop his plan so he acted to get rid of you. Just like he is now."

"Now?" Eve echoed, confused.

"In all the time I've been chasing Darkrai… he's always been keeping to the shadows. He's never out in the open." Cresselia said confidently "But he's now gone and done something quite unusual for him."

"What? The fact he told us to find him at Dark Crater?" Alex said, still not seeing her point. _Where is that anyways?_

"Exactly." Cresselia responded "He told you where to find him and has openly admitted to his actions. Like I said, this is very unlike him. I have little to no doubt this is a trap."

Alex's expression hardened.

"I guess it's a trap we'll have to go in prepared for then." Alex said firmly.

Cresselia looked him over, apparently appraising his condition.

"You, Team Long Ears, will have to go there, there is no question of that. But I will accompany you. I've been chasing him for a long time and it is time I ended this, for better or for worse."

"I just hope we're ready for whatever trap he has prepared for us…" Alex said, feeling nervous.

"Pack well. It will be a hard journey. Once you have procured the proper supplies, come to the Bluff and let me know you're ready. I can use my psychic abilities to take us to Dark Crater."

Alex and Eve nodded, then turned to everyone else and all in attendance nodded and spoke words of support. The team then turned to each other.

"Alright Eve… let's go get ready to catch Darkrai and bring him to justice."


	53. Descent

_**It's the big final dungeon so why not devote an entire chapter to the effort of working their way down into it, yeah?**_

_**This particular fan-fiction of mine is approaching its close and I'd like to thank all of you who have kept reading this far right now. Sincerely, you have my gratitude for your support and reviews. Please enjoy.**_

PDM 2:A Novelization

Chapter 52: Descent

Team Long Ears packed food, oran berries, bands of varying types and especially chesto berries. Knowing they were going up against someone who manipulated through nightmares and such, they wanted to avoid being entranced into sleeping in any way and chesto berries would make sure they didn't fall asleep for a good while.

Once they were ready, they did as Cresselia had commanded and headed to the Bluff, where she was waiting at the point.

"Ready? We can't go back until this is finished once we go. Are you absolutely sure you're ready?" she said.

"Yeah… ready as we'll ever be…" Alex said, trying to keep himself calm.

"Hold on then." Cresselia said and turning towards the horizon to the northwest, she emitted a blinding light.

Alex could feel them rushing across leagues of space in that short period of time and when he could see again, they were now at the location that would not have looked at all out of place at a volcano. The rock around them was black and sooty and small streams of lava could be seen flowing here and there. A hole in the ground going down lay before them.

Cresselia huffed, the exertion of bringing them there taking its toll.

"I'll be alright… just need a little bit to catch my breath." Cresselia assured them, though she was breathing as if she'd just run a marathon.

She put aside any comments about resting right then and had all three of them start into Dark Crater.

o0o

As could be expected, Dark Crater was a hot place and there were a number of fire-types to be seen there. They ran into charmander (a red, very lizard-like pokemon with a burning tail) and its first evolution: charmeleon, which was simply bigger. There were also growlithe (dogs that used fire; "Hot dogs" as Alex joked later), ponyta (young horses with flaming manes) and more fire-types besides.

One of interest on the way down was yet another evolution of Eve's species: Flareon.

The first flareon they encountered, Alex found it rather charming in appearance at first. It was a deep red and yellow in color and very furry. Alex could easily see how it had once been an eevee.

However, he didn't let the appearance fool him and darted forward to strike at the fire-type. It counter-attacked by firing a large blast of flames at Alex who shielded himself from the fire as it attempted to engulf him. He then shot forward again, slamming the flareon, taking it out.

As they continued down, they ran into sandstorms, much to Alex's surprise… that was until they ran into a hippowdon. Alex still remembered his fights with the sandy hippos at the desert's quicksand cave. He left these fights to Cresselia and his partner. Cresselia was psychic-type but she easily proved that she could use her arms like blades with immense skill, slashing opponents and defeating them with relative ease.

One of the biggest threats Alex ran into at Dark Crater was camerupt: a camel-pokemon that had volcanos for humps on its back. It wasn't the fiery eruptions from the camel's humps though that was the threat… no, it was when one of the camels stomped and the ground seemed to explode beneath Alex and his two companions in a blast of dirt.

Alex immediately retreated and left the fight with the camerupt to Cresselia. After she had dealt with the ground-type, she checked on Alex.

"Are you okay?"

Alex was heavily injured, as the attack had been super-effective on him. He was breathing hard but he nodded to Cresselia.

"Yeah… just need an oran berry." He breathed. He had packed twice as many of the berries as normal, having anticipated some trouble in Dark Crater, though he hadn't expected trouble quite like that.

He ate one and, recovering his strength, he led them onwards.

As they proceeded ever deeper, things seemed to only get hotter and more lava appeared, which many of the resident fire-types were to be seen running across and some swimming in it like a water-type would in water. Alex could barely stand the heat and was grateful to step away from any part of the narrow path that went near the lava.

Along with more lava, were more evolved pokemon. Charmander ceased to appeared, replaced by charmeleon completely. Ponyta with rapidash (larger and a great mane of blazing fire). Growlithe with arcanine (a very large dog with great masses of fur that looked like fire). Everything was becoming tougher and tougher. The one thing Alex liked as they went deeper was they stopped running into hippowdon completely.

o0o

After a long while of travelling, they found a point where the air was relatively cool and there weren't any fire-types to be seen wandering around. They could rest and recover their stamina.

"How long again have you been chasing Darkrai?" Alex asked Cresselia as he and his partner sat down to rest. Cresselia remained hovering in air.

"I've been after him for some months now. He must be stopped…" she mumbled something else but Alex couldn't catch what she said.

"Plenty hot here…" Eve panted, her fur coat a disadvantage to her unlike how it had been at Blizzard Island. Dark Crater could've easily qualified as the complete opposite to the ice-coated island.

"Yeah… at least when we went to Blizzard Island we could do something to warm up. I don't know how we're going to keep cool around here." Alex commented, looking around at the distant lava flows.

"This is an island far to the north-west of the mainland." Cresselia explained "It's largely uninhabited except by fire-types and the select locations like this one. The ground around here may be volcanic, but it has never shown itself to be useable for plants in any way. It is simply too hot."

"Don't need to tell _me_ twice." Alex huffed, fanning himself to try and cool off faster.

They rested for another minute or so and then Cresselia insisted upon moving on and hunting down Darkrai.

"Well, he said he'd be waiting at the deepest point so we at least know where we're supposed to find him." Alex said and they headed deeper into the Crater.

Any first-stage evolutions of any pokemon completely ceased to appear anymore. Every pokemon they encountered had now evolved at least once.

They ran in a magmortar at one point, which looked humanoid but it was large and looked almost as if it were made of fire. It pointed one arm at Alex, aiming the end that clearly had a hole in it for expelling projectiles at him. Alex rushed forward and smacked it. It aimed downwards at Alex and he quickly moved out of the way as it fired a great blast of flames at its own feet, where the pikachu had been.

He electrocuted the flaming pokemon before it could fire at him again and they moved on quickly.

Then they started coming across third-level evolutions. Charmander's final form: charizard appeared. It looked like a classic, fire-breathing dragon with wings and a very large flame blazing on the end of its tail. However, it proved to be little match for Alex as he dropped a bolt of electricity on it like a bomb and it was down before it could effectively attack.

It was when they came across rhyperior that Alex knew they had entered Hell.

Rhyperior, as Cresselia explained, was an evolution of rhyhorn and through that, rhydon. Alex still remembered the annoying lightning-rod effect of those pokemon.

How he utterly hated the effect, was beyond words.

He immediately retreated onto a narrower path as they encountered a rhyperior in a small room-like clearing.

The massive rock/ground-type was a dark brown with orange plates of armor about its neck and shoulders, along with the plates being like a belt about its mid-section and on its knees like protective gear. Its arms were like rock-torpedoes. Its horn additionally had a more definite drill-look to it.

Eve and Cresselia moved in to contend with the pokemon. It stomped hard and immediately, a massive earthquake started. Being distant from the fight and away from the clearing, Alex was thankfully out of range from the attack. Eve wasn't though. The attack didn't hit Cresselia, who was hovering off the ground and thus couldn't be affected by the attack. Other resident pokemon around were KOed by the quake. Alex pulled out a seed he had packed in the bag and hurled it with all the strength he could into the fight.

The rhyperior didn't notice the seed fly right into it and it blinked as the seed took effect.

Alex had used an X-eye seed. The rhyperior couldn't see correctly and was now confused about what it was seeing. Had Alex not used the hallucinogenic seed, the pokemon would've used its Earthquake move again and Eve would've gotten hurt badly (to put it lightly).

As it was, its confusion caused the rhyperior to pause and both Cresselia's psychic assault and Eve's biting counter-attacks took it down before it could recover.

As they regrouped with Alex, he handed another oran berry from the pack to Eve, who gratefully ate it.

"Let's keep an eye out for trouble like that, shall we?" Alex said tensely.

"Indeed." Cresselia agreed and they all proceeded with considerably greater caution.

o0o

Things seemed to just become more covered in lava as they proceeded downwards.

_Are we going to practically be at the center of the planet before we get to Darkrai?_ Alex wondered. Of course, it was an absurd thought and considering this, Alex wondered if he was trying to lighten his own mood.

Fire-types continued to attack them from various directions as they went. Cresselia helped a great deal as her attacks got through defenses that Alex and his partner were less capable of penetrating.

The one thing that seemed to make the journey down easier, was the fact that the path now seemed to be mostly one-way. There was rarely a branch in the path and the room-like clearings were small.

It was just as they were starting to run out of food that they arrived at the bottom.

It didn't matter anymore though if they had food then. Darkrai was ahead and they were about to end his scheme once and for all.

"Ready you two?" Alex asked Cresselia and his partner.

Eve breathed in and out, readying herself for what lay just ahead.

Cresselia seemed to glow with light even brighter than usual.

"I am prepared…" Cresselia assured him serenely "…whenever you are ready."

"I think I'm ready to do this Alex." Eve said confidently "Let's go _nail_ that bad pokemon, okay?" she said with a cheery grin.

Alex smirked at her words. She was intentionally being a little silly, trying to relieve a bit of the tension.

He closed his eyes, focusing himself. Something seemed to wash over his mind as he calmed himself and his heart slowed from its fast, nervous pace.

_Alright… let's do this._ He thought to himself and reopened his eyes.

He stepped forward into a very large clearing that was circular and like an arena. His two friends followed.

"Welcome. I'm actually quite glad you came." Darkrai greeted them.


	54. Darkrai's Scheme

_**Alright, this is a chapter I've been dying to type up (hence why I'm putting it up so soon). I might've gotten a bit long-winded at points but there's a ton of exposition here, explaining various things. Including a little truth you never really expect in the game.**_

_**I've changed a lot from the game here. Events are still more or less like the game but I've extended and vastly changed the dialogue.**_

_**Anyhow, I need a serious review (by which, I mean one that's specific and tells me how I might improve this chapter, if possible). This is a chapter that involves little combat but it's a big one nonetheless. I don't want to skimp on the quality if I can help it.**_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 53: Darkrai's Scheme

Alex, Eve, and Cresselia all stood ready to fight against Darkrai, who was quite alone, hovering before a small mound that was churning out lava.

"Yes…" Darkrai continued "I was almost afraid you wouldn't come. Too afraid. But I had faith in you."

"Yeah right… more like you were hoping we'd give up or get killed on the way." Alex growled.

"Why were you so intent on trying to get us to commit suicide anyways!" Eve pitched in "We didn't even realize what the problem was and wouldn't have if you hadn't told us!"

"Nonetheless, you would've noticed sooner or later anyways and interfered… just. Like. Last time." Darkrai said with a cold edge.

"Last time? We hadn't met before Cresselia revealed you. You don't even really _know_ us!" Alex said.

"On the contrary," Darkrai said with an unsettling glint in his eye "I know you only _too_ well. Especially you… Alex." He said pointing at the pikachu. The familiarity in his voice was unmistakable.

"Wait… you know me?"

"Oh yes…" Darkrai said, now smiling in a rather vampiric way "I know you used to be human. I know about your work with Grovyle. I know… because I am also the one who sabotaged Temporal Tower."

Alex blinked, his mind racing to absorb all this information.

"You really think the time gears were just how things were made?" Darkrai sneered "Dialga himself would've had to have done it were that case. It would've been his sanity committing suicide. No, I traveled back in time using the same power that allows me to distort space and gouged out the time gears myself from the Temporal Stand and scattered them across the land. Dialga could never have caught me and an entity like him would be _far_ too proud to admit someone had successfully sabotaged his tower." Darkrai spoke with a cold glee in his voice, as if he enjoyed just recalling all of this,  
>"He couldn't go collect the time gears himself though. He needed to stay on the tower and keep time flowing the best he could, even as damaged as things were. He had other beings protect them until someone strong enough could retrieve them for him. It was only a matter of time though. I just complicated it by spreading rumors that the time gears shouldn't be touched."<p>

"Why?" Eve said in disgust "Why do all that?"

"You didn't see the future? All that darkness?" Darkrai laughed "_Wondrous_ darkness! A world where I, and I alone, could rule! Dialga obeyed _me_!"

Alex was sure by this point that Darkrai was quite insane.

"But how do you-?"

"How do I know you?" Darkrai completed the question for Alex, "Simple: I got my wish. Time came to a halt and I got the darkness I desired. But then Grovyle and that annoyance, Celebi appeared. They wanted to fix time and undo my work. I kept an eye on them and watched for an opportunity to take out Grovyle. Once he was out of the picture, Celebi would be no problem for me. However, your leafy friend was too cautious. I couldn't sneak up on him; whenever I tried, he would almost find me. You eventually showed up and I just ignored you. In fact, I think you might've actually helped as it seemed like Grovyle let down his guard when you were around."

"Where are you going with this?" Alex said impatiently.

"Think," Darkrai said, still smiling like a vampire, "Doesn't something about your past strike you… as odd?" he paused to let the words sink in "You've been through the Passage of Time, yes?"

"Yeah… it was turbulent. A rough ride but I got through." Alex said shrugging.

"Yes, but your friend Grovyle, I'm sure he told you about how… unusually turbulent your first trip was. Didn't he?"

"The one that… that turned me into a pokemon…" Alex murmured, then the penny dropped and Alex looked up at Darkrai, glaring "You didn't-"

"You _finally_ understand." Darkrai said, chuckling lightly, his arms folded "When you and Grovyle went into the Passage of Time, I knew my chance to get at Grovyle was then. If he was out of the way, then what good would a human be in a world of pokemon without one to defend him? You would be helpless so I attacked Grovyle when you two entered the Passage of Time. However, not observing you better proved to be my downfall there and you did something that surprised me: you saw my attack coming and took it in place of Grovyle. You protected him."

Alex stared, his mind blank with shock. Darkrai sounded highly annoyed as he recalled the event.

"Your action disrupted my attack and some of the power scattered into the passage itself. Grovyle survived and came out the other side and by the time I found him, he was looking for the time gears." Darkrai said, his tone icy "And you… I found out you had gotten transformed somehow in the passage and lost your memory. I figured my attack had disrupted the passage in some way and the side-effects had taken their toll on you. I thought any concerns about you were gone then and I ignored you once more. A mistake on my part as you proved more resourceful than I had ever expected."

"I'm guessing Grovyle was on-guard again after that." Eve said.

"Yes. I couldn't stop him." Darkrai said "But I thought my future was secure when all three of you got dragged back to the future. I let down my guard."

Alex had recovered from his shock by now and started feeling smug.

"We saved time from stopping." Alex murmured.

"So you did…" Darkrai said, eyeing him like something disgusting to him "And now… here we are. I devised a new plan. I created a distortion of space that would also magnify my own powers as it grew. If I couldn't cloak the world in eternal night, then I would cloak all the minds around the world in that darkness instead. I would rule over everyone in an eternal nightmare. When Dialga brought you back from disappearing, I made a point of dealing with you first. I wouldn't make the mistake of overlooking you a third time. But Cresselia got in my way. She had caught up to me after so long and she started to interfere with my plans to deal with you. I almost had you, but she interfered again at Sky Rift-"

"So, you called us here so you could just finish us all off in a fight, where no one could come to help us." Cresselia finished for him.

"Yes… astute as ever, Cresselia." Darkrai said smiling "That _was_ my plan." The black pokemon said, hovering towards them. All three took a step back, readying themselves to fight.

Then Alex caught Darkrai's wording:

"Was?"

"Yes, I _was_ planning on getting rid of you here." Darkrai said, now looking thoughtful "But I think I've had a change of heart."

Alex was half-hoping right there it meant he was going to just surrender.

"Well?" Darkrai said expectantly "Will you two join me?"

Team Long Ears blinked, stunned.

"_Join you_? What the _hell_ are you talking about?" Alex said incredulously.

"You two have been through a long dungeon. I'll give that you're strong… and I like that." Darkrai was grinning now "But you're also no match for me. So I'm offering you now: join me and we can all rule in the eternal darkness. We can easily deal with Cresselia. Face it: it's smarter than attempting to defy me." He said with absolute authority. There was a brief pause as Darkrai allowed them to consider his offer.

"Eve, what are you doing?" Cresselia said, sounding concerned. Alex was about to ask what was going on when Eve walked by him, her ears hanging at the sides of her head. He watched in shocked silence as she turned and came to a halt by Darkrai's side. Darkrai then laughed, pleased.

"Well, it would seem your partner has made a wise decision." He said, patting her on the head.

"Why?" Alex said, feeling heart-broken in that moment.

"He's right… we've been through too much… we're too weak to fight him…" Eve murmured, her tone one of perfect despair.

"Well, Alex? Will you join as well?" Darkrai asked, extending one hand out towards him, proffering it to him.

Alex stepped up towards Darkrai, his head slightly bowed, one ear hanging before his eyes.

"Alex! No!" Cresselia called after him.

Alex's face was like stone. He paid no heed to Cresselia.

"Well?" Darkrai asked again as Alex stopped before him, his tone almost kind and Alex could practically hear the smile on his lips.

"Didn't we become a team so we could be friends? Forever?" Eve asked him, her tones still filled with her despair.

"Yeah… we did…" Alex said calmly "We _are_ friends. We always have been."

Alex then looked up at Darkrai, a furious glare directed at the pitch-black pokemon.

"So who do you think you're trying to fool, Darkrai?" he hissed, electricity crackling about him.

"What?" Darkrai gasped, surprised.

_This isn't happening._ Alex thought coldly, _This…this is all a _nightmare_!_

Alex opened his eyes for real. Darkrai was before him, stunned as his illusion was shattered.

Alex yelled, jumped at Darkrai, and flipped, smacking him upside the face with his tail before rebounding off him and landing again.

"Guah!" Darkrai roared as Alex's strike knocked him back. Meanwhile, electricity was starting to arc around Alex.

Eve and Cresselia were actually still behind him. Alex had been in a trance the moment they had stepped into the arena.

"You think, after all this time together, Eve would just give up like that?" Alex said to Darkrai, no words could've adequately described the rage coursing through him, "You think, whenever she gives up, I'm going to give in as well? **You think… I WOULD EVER **_**JOIN**_** YOU?**" Alex's voice rose in volume until he was practically howling the words by the end.

"**NOT! ON MY! **_**LIFE**_**!**" This declaration was punctuated by a loud clap of thunder as Alex's electricity started flowing in full force around him, his ears standing up and his fur on end. It was an impressive and very intimidating display.

Darkrai looked outraged now, since his illusion had actually been penetrated. There was a hint of fear in his eyes though too.

"Alex…" Eve murmured, stunned by his rage and his words.

_I've never felt so insulted._ Alex was fuming in his mind, _He thought that mockery of my partner would fool me? I'll teach him!_

"Eve! Cresselia! Let's take this piece of trash _out_!" Alex yelled furiously.

Darkrai swiftly rose from the ground and blasted Alex with an orb of purest darkness. This knocked the former human back but that aside, didn't seem to have that much effect on him. There was a cold fury on Darkrai's face now as he recovered from his surprise.

"Very well then…" Darkrai said, his voice clipped and dangerously soft "If you will not join me, then you leave me with no choice. You will die _here_."

Then the entire area blacked out for a second. When the light returned, Darkrai and an array of five other different pokemon surrounded the three of them.

"Farewell." Darkrai hissed, his eyes glowing.


	55. Showdown With Darkrai

_**I can say with certainty that this is the final chapter. I will include an epilogue though so don't stop reading yet.**_

_**Besides, with how this chapter ends, if the story ended like this, you'd be left with a good number of questions.**_

_**So enjoy! **_

PMD 2: A Novelization

Chapter 54: Showdown with Darkrai

Alex, Eve, and Cresselia were outnumbered two-to-one. They were surrounded by Darkrai, an arbok (a purple cobra-pokemon), an aggron, a mismagius (a ghost-type that looked a little like a lady with a very fancy hat and a bead necklace), a rhyperior (much to Alex's annoyance), and a magmortar.

The moment Darkrai's eyes flashed, all five of his allies charged in on Alex and his companions.

_They're probably under Darkrai's control through the darkness or something. I can't think of why they'd be on his side otherwise._

Eve charged and hit the rhyperior as hard as she could. Being that its skin was the consistency of stone, it didn't do much. Cresselia meanwhile, blasted the mismagius with her psychic abilities as it attempted to get close.

Alex backed up, grudgingly aware of how useless his electrical attacks would be while the rhyperior was standing. Darkrai, of course, hung back while his underlings got close, a smug grin on his face.

As the rhyperior got closer, Eve snapped at it, the tactic managing to surprise the rhyperior.

The mismagius smirked at Cresselia and a dark power sucked the stamina from her. Cresselia countered with a colorful beam of light, which finished the mismagius off.

The aggron stomped towards Cresselia and attempted to slam it's sizable head into her. Cresselia managed to avoid most of the damage (though she didn't come out unhurt). The arbok was giving Alex a look that telegraphed some grisly intentions…

_It's hungry… fantastic…_ Alex thought miserably as the cobra drew closer.

The magmortar meanwhile, took aim and fired one of its arm-cannons at Eve.

Eve jumped out of the way, getting singed by the fire and attacked the rhyperior again, intent on freeing up Alex's offensive options. It proved to be very stubborn to fall though.

Alex made use of what was available to him and, unable to ignore the arbok gazing at him, he jumped at the snake, which opened its mouth to bite him.

"No mouse on the lunch-menu, 'snakie'!" Alex snarled and slammed it over the head with his tail, forcing its jaws to snap shut again... on its own forked tongue, much to its displeasure.

Cresselia turned on the aggron and her eyes glinted.

"I see you're about to experience pain…" she told it threateningly.

It ignored this threat and attempted to bring its foot down on her, which she hovered to the side to evade.

The arbok lifted its head back up and shaking off the sensation from getting slammed, it lunged at Alex, mouth wide. He hopped back, the fangs coming within centimeters of his soft body. Alex needed to be able to attack more aggressively soon or the next attack, the snake would be attempting to ingest him.

The rhyperior advanced on Eve, the horn upon its nose whirring like an actual drill. Eve quickly jumped back and avoided the horn, which drilled into the volcanic ground. A moment later, it yanked the horn from the ground, tearing up the rock.

The magmortar took aim at Eve again while she was evading this attack and fired.

Eve screamed as the flames exploded around her and ran from the flames before they could bake her alive.

"Go… _down_!" she yelled stiffly at the rhyperior and clamped down on its nose with her jaws. This had a rather amusing effect as the rhyperior howled over as if it had just been mortally wounded and slapped at its own face. Eve quickly jumped off and the rhyperior smacked itself over, knocked out.

None too soon as the arbok lunged at Alex again and he couldn't avoid those fangs this time. He quickly unleashed an electrical shock at it and the snake experienced a spasm from the shock before falling over on top of Alex.

He crawled out from under it, grateful not to have ended up in its belly instead.

The aggron meanwhile, was hit rather precisely by Cresselia and staggered back.

"I foresee your downfall… and that of Darkrai." Cresselia said, her eyes still softly glowing with psychic power.

Eve avoided another bout of cannon-fire from the magmortar and Darkrai, realizing the direction the fight was going, advanced on them to take matters into his own hands.

"Alright… enough of this…" Alex growled "Get down!" he yelled.

Cresselia quickly sank as close to the ground as possible and Eve ducked and covered immediately as Alex discharged in all directions!

The aggron was too slow to avoid the electrical blast and the magmortar was too surprised by the explosion of electricity to react in time. Both were fried almost immediately. Darkrai was quicker to act though and dropped to the ground to also avoid the attack.

"This ends now Darkrai." Alex declared.

Darkrai rushed forward at blinding speed, punching Alex.

"Indeed." He agreed coldly as he rushed away just as quickly, leaving Alex on the ground trying to recover from the speedy attack.

Eve and Cresselia stepped forward, coming to Alex's defense.

Alex got up and dug around in the treasure bag, pulling out a blue-&-brown berry that was somewhat diamond-shaped: a chesto berry. He ate it; it was rather bland and tasted fairly dry. After swallowing it, he almost immediately felt any fatigue and drowsiness from the journey to the fight vanish.

Darkrai smirked as he hovered closer to Cresselia in rather careless fashion. She couldn't act fast enough to avoid him when he swiftly and abruptly lunged at her with one fist, catching her in the chest.

Eve jumped at him and tackled the dark-type.

"Cresselia!" Alex yelled as Darkrai shoved Eve off of himself and advanced on the psychic-type, a menacing grin on his face.

Alex jumped, landing on Cresselia's back and jumped off of her, landing directly in front of her to take a hard punch to the gut from Darkrai.

"Protective as ever I see, Alex." Darkrai commented dryly as he withdrew the fist, leaving Alex to double over in pain.

Eve jumped at Darkrai, intent on biting him but Darkrai raised an arm and blocked the attack, letting the eevee snap down on his arm rather than his shoulder. Cresselia, aware of her poor condition quickly backed away so she was behind Team Long Ears as they contended with Darkrai. The dark-type forced Eve off of his arm and turned on Alex, his single visible eye glowing.

"It must have been a long journey. So tired, aren't you Alex?" he said soothingly.

Alex smirked in response as the hypnotic suggestion completely failed to affect his sleepless brain. Darkrai hadn't noticed Alex taking the chesto berry beforehand.

"Nope. Not tired at all!" Alex chuckled and slapped Darkrai across the face with his tail.

Eve charged and slammed into Darkrai even more recklessly, tumbling off of him afterwards.

Darkrai recovered from this attack, looking worried now but he swiftly struck at Alex again. Alex withstood the attack though and looked at Darkrai in some disgust.

"Like I said: This ends now." Alex said with great finality and yelled as he fired a bolt of electricity straight up.

Darkrai watched the bolt fly up and quickly moved to avoid it when it came crashing back down to earth. He did evade it but Eve slammed into him again.

"You lose Darkrai. It's _over_!" Alex yelled and fired another bolt of electricity into the air overhead. Darkrai couldn't move fast enough to avoid the second massive bolt

"_Grraagggh_!" Darkrai roared as the intense attack hit with the force of a bomb and knocked him to the ground.

Alex and his two companions stepped towards Darkrai, intent on taking him captive to be arrested back at town.

"This… is hardly finished…" Darkrai grunted through clenched teeth and then swiftly rose from the ground and swung his arm back like he was throwing something behind him. A dimensional hole opened up several feet away, directly behind him.

"You've only delayed my plans. I'll just take over another time."

"NO!" Alex and Eve both yelled and charged at Darkrai, who quickly hovered back. Darkrai won the brief race, halting just before the dimensional hole.

"Not fast enough." Darkrai laughed, a malicious grin on his face

"So close…" Alex growled. They had been so close and he was going to get away.

"Even _I_ don't know where or when this dimensional hole goes." Darkrai said "But I need only take one more step and all your efforts up to this point are for naught!" Darkrai taunted, practically cackling.

"**Not if I have any say in the matter!**"

A massive yellow ball of energy soared down into the crater and landed with a massive crash to the side of the face-off. Palkia stomped out with a clear shot at Darkrai.

"**You will not escape **_**me**_**, Darkrai!**" Palkia thundered and violently fired a ball of energy directly at escaping mastermind.

Darkrai panicked then and made a grave error: he quickly fled into the dimensional hole. Palkia's attack barely hit him and the energy exploded across the hole in space as Darkrai vanished inside.

Alex and Eve heard a blood-curdling scream that could've only been Darkrai's. It was cut off sharply by the dimensional hole turning a stone gray, cracking and then shattering with the sound and effect of glass.

Alex felt his blood run cold watching this.

"Is… is Darkrai… dead?" Eve asked, her eyes wide with shock. Even for someone like Darkrai, that kind of death seemed like too much to Alex.

"**No… he's alive…**" Palkia growled, sounding as if he wished it weren't the case.

"I imagine though that he'll know how Alex feels when he wakes up…" Cresselia commented, sounding somewhat sad.

"Huh?" Alex blinked a look back at her, wondering how that was the case.

"Recall what he's done to you Alex."

It took a minute before he realized it, but Alex did realize that Darkrai had been hit with an attack similar to how he had hit Alex when time-travelling.

"You mean…?" Alex said, shocked by the realization now.

"I do not think he will be transformed as you were," Cresselia said gravely, "but I do imagine he will wake up… having lost his memory. _All_ of his memory."

Alex could see the irony right away but he didn't feel like laughing.

"**He is no longer any threat to anyone.**" Palkia declared firmly, "**My task here is done.**"

Palkia then turned and, encasing himself in his flying ball again, shot off out of the crater.

"I believe we should head back to town and inform everyone of the good news." Cresselia said, with a small smile. Alex looked up at her, and he could tell that she saw the feelings they were holding at that moment.

"I know it was a rather cruel fate, even for Darkrai…" Cresselia said, "With his memory lost, he will wake up alone and without friends. Quite unlike how it was for you Alex. I know you feel sorry for him but there is nothing that can be done about it now." Cresselia said, attempting to comfort Alex's somewhat-scattered thoughts.

He did feel some pity for Darkrai but, listening to Cresselia, he knew they indeed couldn't do anything. They didn't even know where Darkrai had sent himself… or when for that matter.

"I understand…" he said and perked up "Let's go home."

o0o

They had rested there at the pit of the crater for a few minutes while Cresselia readied herself to take them all out of there the same way she had brought them to the entrance of the crater. Once she was ready, they all went back to Treasure Town.

During the celebrations, Cresselia disappeared and wasn't seen again. When they finally got back home, Alex and Eve found a small note from Cresselia at the entrance to their home, telling them that she had gone off to do one last favor for them and expressing her gratitude to them for their help and the adventure she had been on with them. Curiously, the note did not specify what the favor mentioned _was_ exactly. Alex was a little sad as he realized it was unlikely they'd meet Cresselia again but the promise of one last gift took his mind off his disappointment and started him wondering what that surprise was.

Besides that, they would receive another surprise a few days later that had been waiting a long time for them.


	56. Epilogue

PMD 2: A Novelization

Epilogue: Evolution

The next several days were good to Team Long Ears. Everyone recognized them and they were a famous team now, their fame coming from saving the world from time stopping and stopping Darkrai's schemes to cloak the world in darkness. This, along with their undeniable skill as an exploration team, made them very well known and popular. Eve couldn't have been prouder of herself and her partner for their accomplishments.

o0o

One day, Team Long Ears was just heading out for another exploration for the day when Chatot intercepted them on their way, looking severely flustered.

"T-Team Long Ears! It-it-it-!" Chatot stammered, in too much of a frenzy to speak clearly.

"Whoa, calm down Chatot! What's the matter?" Alex cut-in, paws raised, trying to get the parrot to settle down.

Chatot breathed in, then out and having calmed down slightly, hopped once, flapping his wings and scattering feathers as he exclaimed:

"It's Manaphy! He's returned!"

"What?" both explorers exclaimed in surprise, which quickly turned to excitement.

"He's at the beach! Waiting for you!" Chatot said, still flustered.

Alex and his partner didn't waste any time and ran straight past Chatot, heading for the beach.

They arrived at the beach quickly enough and there, indeed was their familiar hatchling.

Manaphy had grown while he had been out in the ocean. He was at least twice the size he had been at hatching and was now as big as either Alex or Eve. This aside though, his appearance hadn't changed at all.

"Manaphy?" Eve called.

Manaphy turned his head, his eyes alight with recognition.

"Eve?" he responded his voice considerably more mature than when he had been an infant.

"Manaphy… you… you're big…" Alex said, unable to think of anything else to say right away.

"Alex… Eve…" Manaphy murmured "I…I missed you…"

All three ran (or rather flew in Manaphy's case) and came together in a group-hug.

o0o

After a long reunion on the beach, Manaphy asked if they could go to the Bluff.

Inside the Bluff cave, Manaphy looked around.

"I remember this place…" Manaphy said, the fondness reflected in his voice "I hatched here." He said turning to his two friends.

"Yep, that's right. I still remember that day…" Eve said, smiling.

"Mr. Walrein taught me a lot out in the ocean. How to survive… what to eat… he even taught me things about myself." Manaphy said, smiling, "He told me manaphy like me always return to where we hatched once we've matured."

"Um… you aren't going to come down with a fever again, are you?" Alex asked nervously. He didn't want to have to ask the phione again for some dew.

"Nope. I'm all grown up now. I can live on land or in the ocean." Manaphy said cheerfully. Then his eyes widen as he remembered something.

"Oh yeah, I've waiting a long time to ask!" Manaphy said quickly. Alex and Eve looked up, curious to hear the question he had.

"I… I was wondering… could I… could I join your exploration team?" Manaphy said, and his cheeks flushed red the moment he was done as he bashfully looked away. Alex and Eve blinked, staring in silence.

"I know…" Manaphy murmured sadly, stilling looking down "I'm probably too young still… I'll just get in the way… but I thought I'd… y'know… ask…" he said hesitantly.

Alex and Eve burst out laughing. This surprised Manaphy, who blinked, stunned by the reaction.

"Why are you so nervous about asking us something like that?" Eve laughed "Of course you can join! Right, Alex?"

"Whatever made you think we'd refuse to let you join us? We're young ourselves, so that's no excuse." Alex said, managing to subdue his laughter after a minute.

Manaphy's expression immediately brightened to one of immense joy as he realized he had been accepted.

"Really?" he said then bounded into the air, quite overjoyed. Alex and his partner couldn't have been happier to accept the adorable water-type.

They spent the next several minutes celebrating and then they decided to take Manaphy on his first exploration.

They returned from the exploration in high spirits. Manaphy had proven to be excellent at exploring and supported his team well. They had handled a number of jobs and even caught an outlaw, who Manaphy was proud to say, he had practically captured himself which was quite true and Alex and Eve never said otherwise.

o0o

Manaphy's return wasn't the only surprise Team Long Ears encountered in the days shortly after their victory over Darkrai.

About three days after Manaphy's return, Alex was quickly going into town to handle a bit of business while Eve and Manaphy were checking jobs, when Alex came across the two Ursaring. They were still having some trouble remembering who was who at times. He had a pleasant conversation there in town with them.

"By the way," one of the Ursaring said, "We've been to Luminous Spring lately. We were just playing out there… and the light's still there…" Ursaring had an odd look on her face.

"Yeah? Something wrong with it?" Alex asked, wondering if there might be a job waiting to be taken here.

"I don't think there's something wrong…" Ursaring said uncertainly, tapping her lip with one nail "It didn't really _look_ different… but… but something definitely _seems_ different about it…"

Alex raised an eyebrow, curious now.

"Different? How?"

Ursaring mulled over how to explain before finally saying:

"I'm not sure… but it seems like something's changed about it. Perhaps you should just go see for yourself." She said with shrug.

They then headed on their way and Alex stood there, thinking about what they had said.

_Something's… different? What could be different if it doesn't _look_ different?_

Alex started towards the guild to meet with Eve and Manaphy and share this news when a bit of inspiration struck him.

A grin spread across his face and he quickly ran over to Kangaskhan storage.

o0o

"Alex… why are we going here? I don't think Manaphy can evolve. And we already know how it worked for us." Eve said somewhat plaintively.

"Just watch." Alex said, his grin from before unchanged "If I'm wrong, I'm sorry. This is just a bit of a wild guess."

Eve sighed and sat down on the grass, Manaphy settling down next to her as they both watched Alex walk out into the shallow pool of the spring and into the light.

"_Do you seek evolution?_" the mysterious voice echoed from the trees.

"Yes." Alex said, pulling out the Thunder Stone from the treasure bag.

"_Do you require an item for evolution?_"

"I have it." Alex answered, holding the stone. The voice was quiet for a moment.

"_Very well. Let us begin._"

Alex breathed in and closed his eyes, praying he wasn't mistaken.

The light on the other side of his eyelids became brighter… he felt a strange tingling energy flow across his skin. He heard Eve gasp and Manaphy murmuring in awe.

It was a strange, yet exciting feeling. He felt his body growing and changing… and none of it hurt even slightly.

There was a final flash. Eve was silent. Alex opened his eyes and looked down at himself.

The Thunder Stone in his paws was now nothing more than a plain rock. Alex had changed dramatically.

His paws and feet now were tipped with brown and his fur was more of a mustard-yellow, darker than before. There were still a couple of stripes (now as brown as his paws) across his back. His floppy ears had been replaced with a pair of triangular ones with a thin membrane of skin and a long, curling hair trailing from each tip. No more of his ears flopping into his eyes. His belly had turned white. His tail whipped around in front of him, startling him somewhat with its new appearance. It was now very long and narrow like a normal mouse's tail; however it also ended with a very large, yellow, bolt-shaped spike as large as (if not bigger than) his own head.

He looked over at Eve and Manaphy staring in startled awe at him. They both suddenly seemed a lot smaller… that was of course, because he had gotten considerably bigger. He stepped out the light, using some caution as his feet were much bigger and it felt a little odd walking with his new body.

"Well? How do I look?" Alex asked, and was a bit startled himself upon hearing his voice, which had gotten slightly deeper. Had he been human again, he might've suddenly have aged from 13 years-old to around 20.

Eve's mouth worked… trying to speak. Manaphy was just continuing to stare in a happy sort of awe.

"H-how?" Eve finally managed to say, "How did you do it?" she said slowly, continuing to stare.

"I think this is the favor Cresselia said she would do for us. I think she went to Palkia and asked him to fix Luminous Spring so it could work past our spatial distortions. She must have known somehow that distortion was the reason we weren't evolved. Eve… we can evolve now." Alex said. He had no way of actually proving this was the case but he was sure of his hunch now. Either way, true or not, he had evolved and if he could… that meant Eve could too.

This finally got across to Eve and she looked around as she considered her various options.

"W-where do I start? Which way should I go?" she murmured, a smile creeping across her face as she started to become excited.

"I've got an idea." Alex said and reached into their treasure bag again… and pulled out the ice-covered rock, presenting it to Eve.

"Where… where did you get that?" Eve said, staring at the rock now. She looked overwhelmed from the surprises Alex had pulled on her, one after another.

"Found it on Blizzard Island… Scizor was holding it…" Alex said simply "That was our first real adventure as a graduated team, remember?"

Eve blinked…

"Yes… I do…" she murmured, astonished "You had it all this time?" she said, sounding touched now.

"I couldn't figure out what to do with it for a long time but I've seen so many evolutions possible for you… I started to wonder if this would also do it. I knew something was special about it. I just needed to figure out what."

"So… you want me to…?" she started.

"I won't force you if you don't want to. But I was thinking it would be a good way to commemorate that first adventure." Alex said, giving his long-time partner a warm smile.

"Alex…" Eve had tears forming and she abruptly charged at him and tackled him in an affectionate hug. Alex knelt down as she came and caught her. She was fairly small in his arms. Manaphy soon came over and flopped playfully on his head.

After a minute, Manaphy got off… and just in time as it turned out.

Alex accidentally shocked Eve; he would've electrocuted Manaphy too if the water-type hadn't gotten off.

"Yowch!" She yelped and jumped away "What was that for?" she cried.

"Sorry!" Alex said quickly, "I didn't do it on purpose… I think I've got a lot more power now. I guess it's a bit harder to control."

Alex noticed his tail was whipping around automatically and he got the feeling his instincts were telling him something. He glanced at the tail… making it hold still with a conscious thought… then, still running on instinct, he swung it down sharply. It sank into the soft soil like a sword with a dull thump. Alex then let the excess electricity flowing through him discharge through his tail harmlessly into the ground.

"Geez… that's a lot of electricity…" Eve muttered, jittering from the shock still.

"Sorry…" Alex apologized again "I guess I'm going to need some time to get used to this now." He chuckled shyly. He then offered the ice-coated rock to Eve again.  
>She approached him with some apprehension, wary for another sudden electric shock but she finally took the stone from him and nervously approached the spring, sitting herself down in the middle of the light.<p>

"_Do you seek evolution?_" the voice asked.

Eve swallowed hard, clearly extremely nervous before saying, "Y-yes…"

"_Do you require an item for evolution?_"

"Um… this one here…" Eve said, placing the icy rock in the water directly in front of her.

The voice was silent a moment again… then "_Very well. Let us begin._"

Eve shut her eyes tight and her ears flattened against her head, as if bracing herself for a hard hit on the head. The light of the spring became harsh…

Eve started to glow… her form shifted… she grew until she was only slightly smaller than Alex. Alex felt a chilly wind rush in and swirl around Eve. The spring's water started to freeze over.

Then there was the final flash and Eve's transformation was complete.

Eve opened one eye…

"Is it over?" she said nervously. Alex stifled a laugh at her behavior.

"You're beautiful…" he finally said with complete sincerity and a wide smile on his face. "So pretty!" Manaphy chimed in joyfully.

Eve looked down at herself and gasped softly… pleasantly surprised with the beauty that she was seeing for herself now.

Her fur (which was very fine now) was primarily white in color now, tinged an icy and very light shade of blue. There were blue ice-crystals in places on her fur. Her tail had a crystalline point to it and her ears were now the four-sided shape of diamonds. Her legs and paws, the inside of her ears and the fur upon her head was a darker shade of blue, as was two long hanging strands of icy hair going down to her knees, which ended with ice crystals on the ends. If Eve had ever been human, the strands would've likely have been a long pair of braids resting across her front. Alex noticed bits of diamond dust and snow forming in the air around her, melting away as they floated away from her. It all made her look _very _pretty indeed.

"I don't think I've ever liked ice and cold this much before now." Alex laughed.

Eve blushed, her cheeks turning a darker blue rather than pink.

"Well, I guess I'll need to get used to the new me as well. I'm a glaceon now." Eve said, smiling. Her voice had changed as well… like the embodiment of gently falling snow.

_Of course, that could just be the romantic in me. _Alex thought to himself.

They headed back to town, Manaphy happy for both of them and enjoying being reminded of the days when he had first hatched (being that Alex and Eve were now bigger than he was again).

With help from Electrivire (who liked Alex's new look) with teaching Eve new attacks she could now use, they headed out on a new exploration, testing out their new abilities.

Eve could blow a very cold gust of wind now and when she wished to strike multiple opponents at once, she was also able to summon a breeze filled with ice, which sometimes froze enemies solid. She had more besides but those were just two of her new abilities. Somehow, as long as he was close to her, Alex did not feel cold at all from her attacks and he felt perfectly warm and comfortable.

Alex meanwhile, found that his excess electricity made his electrical attacks twice as powerful as before. His semi-prehensile tail (he couldn't effectively pick things up with it but it could bend in all directions) was also very easily used as a weapon as the spike on the end was quite hard. A bone was giving the spike its shape, similar to his previous tail. Hitting an enemy with it tended to KO the target quite handily as the entire tail was very strong overall. Alex even found he could sit on it and lift his entire body with his tail, his feet completely off the ground; though Eve commented he was like Spoink when he did that.

o0o

When they headed home for the day, they were both amazed at their new strength.

Manaphy settled down to sleep almost immediately. Eve started to lay down but then looked at Alex...

"Alex…"

He looked over at his partner… the one pokemon who had been at his side for as far back as his memory stretched… the best friend he'd ever had… truly his one greatest combination as Grovyle had told them.

"Thank you… for everything…" Eve said and then curled up to go to sleep.

Alex sighed, satisfied with the day as he started to lie down. He "plugged" his tail into the ground to be safe and settled down, ready for another good night's sleep.

He couldn't have been happier to be with Eve and Manaphy on an exploration team. He had a long life ahead of him… full of exploration and adventure with his friends.

And he knew he would enjoy every minute of it.

-The End-


End file.
